MNI China Press Digest, Jan 21: Financial, Investment, Economy

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

     China's main priority in 2019 is to deepen the reform of the financial

system, as China maintaining an average growth rate of 6% in the next three

years depends on it, Sina Finance reports, citing a report published by Li

Daokui, a professor at Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management.

And China joining the ranks of high-income countries by 2022 also depends on it,

the report adds. Li thinks excessive tightening in the financial sector is the

main reason China's economy has been undergoing a new round of adjustment since

mid-2018, which is marked by a lack of confidence among private and small

companies, as well as slowing GDP growth, the report said.

     Nine provinces and cities across China have issued their key project

investment plans for 2019, totalling about CNY25 trillion, the Shanghai

Securities News reported today. Traditional infrastructure projects including

railways, highways, airports, electricity, natural gas and water conservancy, as

well as major industrial projects and eco-environment protection projects remain

the main areas of investment, the newspaper said.

     China's economy has all the conditions to maintain steady growth, with the

rate in a reasonable range, the People's Daily Overseas Edition said today. A

more precise macro policy package, continuously improving infrastructures, 5 to

10 more years of labor dividend and the process of urbanization will support the

long-term development of the economy ahead, the Daily said, citing Chen Wenling,

chief economist at China Center for International Economic Exchanges.

--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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