MNI China Press Digest, Dec 13: Housing, VC, Manufacturing

     BEIJING (MNI) - The following lists highlights from Thursday's China press:

     The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said it will give

priority approval to bond issuance applications from enterprises that play a

leading role in industrial restructuring and have good credit, along with stable

operations, the Securities Daily reported Thursday. Real estate enterprises

rated 3A and with less than 85% debt ratio, total assets of more than CNY150

billion and an income exceeding CNY30 billion are considered as high-quality

enterprises, the Daily said. The current bond issuance policy is more positive

than previously, housing developers can make good use of it to increase their

working capital and accelerate project development, the paper said, citing Yan

Yuejin, research director of Shanghai E-House Real Estate Research Institute.

     China will lower the tax burden for partners in venture capital firms, the

State Council has decided, aiming to boost innovation. Partners' equity transfer

and dividend yield from one VC fund will be subjected to personal income tax at

a tax rate of 20%, Xinhua news agency reported late Wednesday. Partners of VC

firms can also choose to pay their personal income tax based on the overall

annual income of the firm, using progressive rates ranging from 5% to 35%, the

report said. The new policy will be effective from 2019 and will run for five

years, the report said.

     Manufacturing investment growth will likely slow in the year ahead, albeit

moderately, as structural reforms will continue to bite and the private-sector

financing difficulties remain, the Securities Daily said in a front-page

commentary Thursday. The buoyant growth of manufacturing investment this year

has mainly been driven by high-tech manufacturing, including computers and

communication devices, with double digit growth for nine consecutive months,

indicating that China's industrial capacity has been upgraded somewhat, the

newspaper said.

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: wanxia.lin@marketnews.com

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

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