MNI China Press Digest Mar 1: Money Policy, GDP Target, Yuan

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Monday:

• Actions by China's central bank last month showed that preventing risks, stabilizing leverage and retracting credit are 'must have' options this year, even if the scale of removing 'abnormal expansionist policies' is moderate, the Economic Information Daily said on its front page following a meeting of the Politburo on Feb. 26. Ensuring that growth and employment remain firm required the development of proprietary technologies and innovation as a key task this year, while revitalizing the countryside will remain a long-term top priority, said the Daily owned by Xinhua News Agency.
• China needs to return to setting a growth target to be line with its goal of doubling GDP by 2035, China News Service reported citing Yang Weimin, a deputy director of the Committee for Economic Affairs at the policy advisory body CPPCC. While the outbreak forced the government to suspend the practice last year, the pandemic is under control and growth of "higher quality and efficiency" must be maintained with a rate of at least 4.73%. This was necessary to build the country into a "Medium Developed Country" by 2035, Yang told China News. M2 can grow up to 10% y/y if the nominal GDP grows at 8%, Yang said.
• Facilitating capital outflows may ease the pace of the yuan's appreciation given that it is driven by a current account surplus, Guan Tao, chief economist of BOC Securities and a former official at the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, wrote in a column on Yicai.com. Allowing outbound investment can help offset increasing capital flowing in, said Guan. However, domestic investors may be reluctant to invest abroad because of the inflated value of global assets and high levels of foreign government debt, Guan said.