MNI China Press Digest Jan 25: MLFs, Housing Curbs, PLA Jets

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Monday:

The PBOC is likely to inject liquidity by rolling over maturing MLFs before Feb. 11, prior to the Chinese New Year, the China Securities Journal reported citing analysts. The PBOC will also use reverse repos or even temporary tools such as Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) to inject liquidity, although RRRs are likely to remain unchanged, the newspaper said. More than CNY800 billion liquidity may be siphoned off this week as various monetary instruments expire, the newspaper noted.

Chinese cities with hot real estate markets may follow Shanghai and Shenzhen in moderating house prices through higher transaction costs and boosting the supply of homes, the Chinese Securities Journal reported. Many existing policies on property purchases had been devised five years ago, and they should be reinforced and updated to address new forces driving the markets such as talent-attracting programs, the Journal said.

The new Biden administration in Washington should send out a clear signal to differentiate itself from the previous administration's policy on Taiwan, the Global Times said in an editorial. The editorial urged the restoration of control over the Taiwan Straits on the basis of the one-China principle after fighter jets of the People's Liberation Army conducted warning exercises to the southwest airspace of the island. The Global Times warned that if the new White House follows the extreme policies of its predecessor, the situation was doomed to deteriorate and PLA jets were likely to appear over Taiwan.