MNI China Press Digest, Feb 14: Sino-US, Economy, PBOC

     BEIJING (MNI) - The following lists highlights from Thursday's China press:

     --Liu He, China's senior trade negotiator co-chaired the opening ceremony

of the Sino-US high-level economic and trade consultation with the U.S. Trade

Representative Robert Lighthizer and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin

today, Xinhua News Agency reported. Talks will be held in Beijing on Thursday

and Friday.

     --The U.S. appear more willing to reach an agreement with China, as their

high-ranking negotiators in Beijing as well as the U.S. financial market

reaction all have shown optimism about reaching a trade deal, the Global Times

said in an editorial late Wednesday. The article urges both sides to stay calm

and reminds U.S. President Donald Trump that he should know that negotiation is

not the final deal, and negotiators shouldn't always be tough.

     --China's economy is expected to bottom out in Q3 2019 and sit within a

reasonable range throughout the year, the Economic Information Daily said in a

front-page commentary today. Although the Chinese economy still faces many

uncertainties, such as exports dampened by the front-loading effect, cooling

property investment and sales, they have been included in policy-making and

won't constitute an unexpected shock, the newspaper said.

     --Financial markets expect the PBOC will issue central bank bills overseas

in a larger scale and on a more regular basis, the Shanghai Securities News said

today, citing analysts. Issuing offshore bills more often will help to convey

the central bank's policy intentions, said Ming Ming, a former advisor to the

PBOC, who also expects that the PBOC may introduce more new policy tools in the

future, as it has been very creative in 2018, the paper said.

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

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

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