MNI China Press Digest, Feb 25: Financial Reform, Rate, NPLs

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

     Chinese President Xi Jinping urged deepening financial supply side

structural reform at a politburo meeting Friday, including developing customized

financial products and boosting the number of small and medium-sized financial

institutions, Xinhua News Agency reported Saturday. Xi also underlined the need

to balance stabilising economic growth and preventing risks, further opening up

the financial sector, enhancing the financial capability of serving the real

economy, whilst promoting the healthy development of the financial industry, the

newspaper said.

     There is no need for the PBOC to lower the deposit and lending rates in the

short term, the Economic Daily reported today, citing Dong Ximiao, vice

president of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of

China. Market rates have already fallen and cutting rates again could send the

wrong signals to the market, Dong said.

     Ten provinces, including Zhejiang, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Guizhou, saw a

decline in Non-Performing Loans last year, reversing a nationwide trend, China

Business News reported late Sunday. By end-2018, China's NPL balance was CNY2

trillion, with rate of 1.89%, increasing by CNY29 million and 0.15 percentage

point from end-2017 and hitting ten year highs, the paper said citing data by

the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.

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

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