MNI China Press Digest Dec 2: Bonds, Real Lending, McCarthyism

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Wednesday:

China is likely to maintain the amount of special debt to be issued in 2021 given the recovery is well underway, the China Securities Journal reported citing analysts. Local governments have issued CNY138 billion in bonds by November, with none under new quotas, the Journal reported citing data from Wind. Special bonds will still be needed to support infrastructure investment while fiscal policies will remain positive next year, so the scale of issuance is likely to be the same level as 2020, the newspaper reported citing Sun Binbin, an analyst from Tianfeng Securities. Newly added local government bond issuance next year should be at just over CNY 1 trillion if the target deficit ratio is set back at 3%, said Sun.

China's banking regulator fined banks a record of over CNY1 billion in the first 11 months, with many fines for illegal loans to the real estate industry, the Economic Information Daily said citing research based on regulatory data. Regulators are likely to continue their tough measures on real estate and the related shadow lending activities, the newspaper said citing Tao Jin, an analyst with the Suning Institute of Finance.

U.S. government surprise raids targeting members of the Communist Party of China on arriving Chinese ships and airplanes are "McCarthyist" and justify a reciprocal response from China, the English-language China Daily said in an editorial. The outgoing Trump administration is creating difficulties for the incoming administration and hopes to make the aggressive U.S. approach to China irreversible, the newspaper said. The 90-million-member CPC holds a legitimate leadership role in China, and it seeks a constructive China-US relationship, the newspaper said.