MNI China Press Digest Dec 7: Fiscal, China-US, Property

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Monday:

China should maintain positive fiscal policies in 2021 to support the economy given a projected decline in land revenues and the expected further drop in tax and fee revenues, the Economic Information Daily said in a commentary. China needs to increase the size of government debt with ample liquidity, and fiscal spending should expand as the 14th Five-Year plan is implemented while social security costs rise, said the newspaper. The normalization of China's fiscal and monetary policies should be more in tune with the needs of macro-regulation, the Daily's commentary said.

The incoming Biden administration can repair the relationship with China by welcoming China's initiative of joining the CPTPP, according to a commentary published in China Daily and written by Liu Hui, a researcher at the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Liu makes the point that the predecessor of the CPTPP was led by the U.S., and he called for other positive measures such as reviving 10-year visas to boost exchange and cooperation with China on climate change. Previous cooperation between the U.S. and China had led to resolving issues around Iran's nuclear push and North Korea, and these two issues would be good starting points for improving China-U.S. relations, Liu wrote.

China is likely to maintain tight controls on the property sector and refrain from using housing development to stimulate the economy, the People's Daily reported citing Yin Zhongli, a director from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. In his comments, Yin was interpreting the outcome of the Real Estate Symposium held by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development on Dec 3. He said China would continue to let local authorities develop their own approach specific to each region. China should also expand affordable housing to protect lower-income groups, Yin told the Daily.