MNI China Press Digest Feb 25: Yuan, Infra Credit, Ukraine

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Friday:

• The yuan is expected to appreciate to 6.30 against the U.S. dollar as investors seek to divert from the risks of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the China News Service reported citing analysts. The recent rapid appreciation of the yuan may be supported by the inflow of foreign funds to Chinese assets, given the China-U.S. interest spread has been falling all the way in January and the geopolitical tension failed to disturb the pace of foreign investment in yuan bonds, the newspaper said citing an analysis by CICC. Both onshore and offshore yuan had reached an intraday high of 6.3095 and 6.3016 yesterday, the highest in nearly four years, the newspaper said.
• China should prevent excess credit from flooding the real estate markets again by directing resources to infrastructure and high-tech investment, the Shanghai Securities News reported citing Sheng Songcheng, a former director of the Statistics and Analysis Department of the People's Bank of China. Infrastructure investment can stabilize the economy and improve market expectations in a relatively short period of time, and China should continue with the building of traditional infrastructure in transportation, energy, water conservancy, agriculture, and logistics while promoting the digital upgrade with 5G and big data projects, the newspaper cited Sheng as saying.
• The Chinese embassy in Kyiv issued a notice on Thursday in preparation for bringing back Chinese nationals from Ukraine, the Global Times reported. Given the rapidly deteriorating situation in the country, Chinese nationals and companies are facing high-security risks, the newspaper said. The embassy is preparing charter flights and asked all Chinese nationals to voluntarily register, the newspaper said.