MNI China Press Digest Dec 29: Stock Financing, Power, Covid

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Tuesday:

China will continue to allow more share offerings as a greater source of capital raising and reduce the reliance on debt, the Financial News reported on Monday citing Yi Huiman, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission. China will also promote competition and access to the stock market, said Yi. He said that China would support capital market innovation and the use of long-term incentives, according to the report.

Three provinces in southern China have been ordered to remove power usage restrictions, according to the China Securities Journal citing an unnamed official from the National Development and Reform Committee. The government has ordered coal mines to increase production and is asking plants to stock coal, as about half of China prepares for a cold spell with temperatures dropping more than 10 degrees.

Chinese authorities are canceling gatherings and restricting the operating capacity of entertainment facilities to contain rising cases of Covid-19, the China Daily reported on Monday. Fifteen local cases were reported on Dec. 28, including seven in Beijing and eight in Liaoning province, according to data from the National Health Commission. China has banned flights from the U.K. after reports of a virus variant, the China Daily said. China plans to inoculate 50 million people with its domestically developed vaccines by mid-February, the newspaper reported.