MNI China Press Digest Dec 11: Politburo, Singapore, SMEs

Highlights from Chinese press reports on Monday:

• China will adopt more active pro-growth policies next year in line with the Politburo's meeting last week which emphasised "progress while maintaining stability," said Ming Ming, chief economist at CITIC Securities. The group's goal to "moderately increase the intensity" of fiscal policy may mean setting the budget deficit-to-GDP ratio at about 3.5%, a rise of 0.5 pp from 2023, as well as keeping the scale of new local government special bonds at about CNY4 trillion to uplift infrastructure investment and offset the impact of the real-estate downturn, adding CNY200 billion from the previous year, said Wang Qing, chief macro analyst at Golden Credit Rating. Monetary policy, meanwhile, will focus on improved effectiveness, such as guiding the pace and maturity requirements of credit supply to better match market entities' capital needs, said Liang Si, researcher at Bank of China Research Institute. (Source: Yicai)
• Authorities in Singapore and China plan to boost cooperation in new digital finance and capital markets, according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore. During the recent 19th Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation in Tianjin, leaders from both sides agreed to pilot a scheme allowing the use of e-CNY for tourism spending in Singapore and China. Additionally, JCBC participants cited recent developments including an MOU between the Singapore Exchange and the Guangzhou Futures Exchange, plus the launch of exchange-traded funds between both markets as examples of increased collaboration. (Source: MAS website)
• China’s SME Development Index (SMEDI) reached 89.3 in November, a 0.2 point increase from October, ending a two-month consecutive decline, according to the China Association of SMEs. Firms’ confidence has been boosted, with most sub-indexes increasing, but the headline index remained below the critical value of 100 that indicates prosperity, the association said. China’s economy continues to recover but faces challenges and authorities should make efforts to ensure overdue payments to SMEs are cleared to safeguard their legitimate rights, and interests. (Source: Securities Daily)