MNI China Press Digest Aug 31: Yuan, Party Congress, Housing

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Wednesday:

• The yuan will continue to be subjected to two-way fluctuations while remaining basically stable at a balanced level, as the implementation of China’s pro-growth policies will consolidate the economic recovery and strengthen fundamental support for the yuan, the Economic Information Daily wrote. Capital inflows from robust foreign trade and investment will help maintain a basic balance between supply and demand in the FX market, the newspaper said. The CFETS RMB Index, a key currency index basket managed by the PBOC, is still above 100, meaning the yuan has shown strong resilience during the latest U.S. dollar rally when compared to major non-dollar currencies, the newspaper added.
• China's ruling Communist Party will hold its 20th national congress starting on Oct 16, Xinhua News Agency reported late Tuesday, following an announcement made by the country's top-decision making body, the Politburo. The congress will elect a new Central Committee and the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Xinhua said. MNI noted that President Xi Jinping is expected to secure a historic third leadership term during the congress.
• China has started to deploy its CNY200 billion national special loan scheme as it looks to support liquidity-strained property developers’ delivery of unfinished housing projects, Caixin reported. The special loans will be arranged by China Development Bank and Agricultural Development Bank of China within the existing loan quota under the guidance of the central bank. Furthermore, municipal governments should repay the debt within three years otherwise the interest rate applied to the loan will double, Caixin wrote, citing unnamed sources. The interest rate for the first two years will be 2.8%, as a result of a fiscal discount, rising to 3.2% in the third year, Caixin noted.