MNI China Press Digest, Jan 22: Fiscal, Yuan, Population

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

     Both China's economic growth and inflation will decline this year, so

macroeconomic policies should play a more important role as there is limited

room for easier monetary policy, the Securities Times today citing Zhang Ming,

researcher at Institute of World Economics and Politics under Chinese Academy of

Social Sciences. The key is to see how proactive the fiscal policy will be,

Zhang added. The focus is on whether the government will break the 3%

deficit-to-GDP ceiling, increase local special bonds issuance to more than CNY2

trillion, as well as expand the scale of government bonds. It is also of concern

whether any fiscal easing will be mainly based on tax cuts or adding government

spending, the newspaper said citing Zhang.

     The key to the yuan exchange rate will depend largely on domestic

fundamentals, since external pressures are alleviating as the greenback's cycle

of strength is coming to an end, China Securities Journal said today. The yuan

is more likely to fluctuate rather than keep depreciating, helped by better

expectations for the Chinese economy and foreign capital inflows, the paper

added.

     In addition to relaxing birth control, China's government should provide

greater policy support covering pre-school education, child care and job

security to reduce the cost of raising a baby, Sina Finance reported today,

citing Cai Fang, deputy director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Beijing should also consider postponing the retirement age and enhancing

training for the elderly, otherwise they will not be able to adapt to future

employment needs, the report said, citing Cai.

--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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