MNI China Press Digest, Jan 4:Infrastructure, PBOC, Population

     BEIJING (MNI) - The following lists highlights from the Chinese press for

Friday:

     China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has approved rail

construction projects in eight cities worth CNY860 billion in the last month, in

line with the central government's plan to boost investment and strengthen the

weak links in the economy, the Securities Daily said today. As the country's

infrastructure construction peak has passed, future investments may focus on

improving urban and inter-city rail and rural revitalization projects, the Daily

said citing Zhang Yansheng, former director of Institute of Foreign Economic

Research under the NDRC.

     The PBOC is likely to conduct three or four reserve requirement ratio(RRR)

cuts this year to boost the growth of total social financing, said Economic

Information Daily today citing Li Chao, chief analyst at Huatai Securities. The

PBOC is more likely to keep the benchmark deposit and lending rate at current

levels while guiding the market rates down by lowering Medium-term Lending

Facility and the Open Market Operation rates, the Daily said citing Ding Anhua,

chief economist at China Merchants Bank.

     China's population will reach a peak of 1.442 billion in 2029 before

entering negative growth, the Economic Daily said citing a report by the Chinese

Academy of Social Sciences. If China's fertility rate remains at 1.6, growth may

turn negative as early as 2027, according to the report, which warned the

government to take immediate measures to deal with declining and ageing

population.

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

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