MNI China Press Digest, Dec 20: Cars, Foreign Capital, SMEs

     BEIJING (MNI) - The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports

on Friday:

     Car sales in China are expected to decrease to 25.31 million units in 2020,

down from around 25.83 million this year, according to a report in the

Securities Daily. The newspaper cited Xu Haidong, Assistant Secretary-General of

China Automobile Association, who said that sales could then increase again in

2023. China's auto market has entered a stage of deep adjustment due to changes

in emission standards and the lower purchasing power of consumers struggling

with high home prices, according to Jiang Yuan, the deputy director of the

Industry Division at the National Bureau of Statistics, who was also quoted in

the Daily's report.

     Foreign capital will continue to be an important source of funds in China's

A-share market, the China Securities Journal reports. Citing market analysts,

the Journal says that stable economic fundamentals, relatively-low valuations

for yuan assets and the acceleration in the opening of financial markets will

attract continued inflows of long-term overseas funds.

     The Export-Import Bank of China has issued the first SME-themed two-year

financial bonds worth CNY4 billion with a lower-than-market average rate of

2.9%, the People's Daily reports. All funds raised will be used for lending to

small and medium enterprises in the real economy, the newspaper said. The bank

will deepen support for SMEs in all areas of financing, lending, and

underwriting, the Daily said.

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

--MNI Sydney Bureau; +61 405322399; email: lachlan.colquhoun.ext@marketnews.com

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