MNI China Press Digest Jan 17: Yuan, Xi Economy, Prpty Rebound

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Monday:

• The launch of a 25-year cooperation pact with Iran is a breakthrough in China advancing the internationalization of the yuan, the Global Times said in an editorial, after State Councillor Wang Yi met Iran’s FM Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in China’s Wuxi city last week. While the details of the agreement, spanning energy, infrastructure and technology, were not disclosed, the deal will benefit Iran’s much-needed economy under U.S. sanctions, the newspaper said. The yuan is an alternative to the U.S. dollar in trade settlement, listed by Iran’s central bank as a main forex currency, said the Times. As the U.S. debt and inflation woes led to diminished confidence in the dollar, the yuan’s status has risen in the global arena, it said.
• China must seek breakthroughs in core technology and accelerate the building of new infrastructure as a part of its strategy to develop the digital economy, President Xi Jinping wrote in the official journal Qiushi, carried on the front pages of major state newspapers. There have been “unhealthy and disorderly signs and trends” in the digital economy’s development that threaten the nation’s economy and financial safety, which must be corrected and managed, Xi wrote. China should also actively participate in global cooperation to help strengthen its “national competitive advantage,”, as its digital economy lacks strength and excellence, said Xi.
• Housing markets in China’s largest cities may rebound after Q1 as regulators ease restrictive policies and allow easier funding to the industry, the China Securities Journal said citing researchers including Li Yujia of Guangdong Housing Policy Research Center. Signs that the market has bottomed out include rising prices of pre-owned homes in December from November and that more cities reported gains in prices of new homes, the newspaper said. However, the housing market may remain sluggish unless the central bank further cuts lending costs, it said.