MNI China Press Digest, Dec 6: Small Companies, Yuan, Huawei

     BEIJING (MNI) - Following are highlights from the Chinese press for

Thursday:

     China's State Council pledged to broaden financing channels for small and

medium-sized tech enterprises, as it announced 23 reforms to boost innovation,

the People's Daily said on Thursday. The authority will promote government

equity funds to invest in tech start-ups, which will be allowed to repurchase

the equity later, at a price based on the initial investment and accumulated

commercial loan interest rates, the State Council said.(Link to the story:

https://bit.ly/2KWZJuQ)

     The PBOC's Hangzhou branch ordered banks in Zhejiang province to boost new

loans to small and micro-sized enterprises by CNY500 billion over three years,

said Xinhua news agency on Thursday. The central bank also pledged to handle

rediscounting for private and small companies' commercial paper, and guide the

lending rate of lending to small companies steadily down, the agency said.(Link

to the story: https://bit.ly/2QBvBu9)

     There is a widespread belief amongst investors that the yuan is unlikely to

fall below the psychological 7 level against the U.S. dollar this year, and that

it could continue to appreciate steadily in the short term, said China

Securities Journal on Thursday, citing Liu Min, analyst at FXTM, a forex trading

broker. Risk aversion in global markets has eased, as the Fed looks likely to

raise interest rates at a slower pace, and following the Sino-U.S. trade dispute

truce. This may prompt foreign investors to increase their allocation of yuan

assets, the newspaper said, citing Xie Yaxuan, chief macroeconomic analyst at

China Merchants Securities.(Link to the story: https://bit.ly/2StQoNz)

     China strongly protests the detention by Canadian police of the CFO and

daughter of the founder of Chinese tech giant Huawei, according to a statement

released by the Chinese embassy in Canada on its website on Thursday, which

denounced a "violation of human rights". Huawei said the company is not aware of

any misconduct by CFO Meng Wanzhou, and that the company complies with

applicable laws and regulations in the countries in which it operates, including

export controls and sanctions rules enacted by the UN, the U.S., and the EU,

China Business News reported on Thursday.(Link to the story:

https://bit.ly/2FZmfnS)

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

--MNI London Bureau; +44 203 865 3829; email: jason.webb@marketnews.com

[TOPICS: M$A$$$,M$Q$$$,MBQ$$$]