MNI China Press Digest March 15:Record Credit, Infra Inv't, US

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Monday:

• February data showing a 13.3% y/y growth in China's total-social financing and a 12.6% gain in outstanding loans showed that both trends are unsustainable since the central government has said it prefers financial stability over monetary easing, said the 21st Century Business Herald in an editorial. The government should rein in lenders from extending too much credit in a single month, said the newspaper. Companies and residents had scrambled to raise money fearing the government would tighten credit after the March National People's Congress.
• China's investment in infrastructure projects this year is likely to rise 5% from last year, reported the China Securities Journal citing Li Xunlei, the chief economist of Zhongtai Securities. Projects funded by the local government special-purpose bonds are likely to be bigger than last year given some of the funds carried over, Li said. Investments this year will concentrate on urbanization, environmental protection, and transportation facilities, the Journal reported citing Liu Xiangdong, a deputy director of the research department of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges.
• The Biden administration intends to continue the previous presidency's "maximum pressure" strategy by emphasizing the Indo-Pacific concept, said China Daily in an editorial commenting on the summit between the U.S., Japan, Australia and India. China had clearly been the focus of the summit discussions despite not being mentioned in the concluding statement, said the Daily. The four countries have no common foundation or strategic motive to treat China as their common and "imagined" enemy as they all benefit from China's development, and their committed initiatives such as fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and climate issues require co-operation and coordination with China, the Daily said.