MNI China Press Digest Mar 21: Liquidity, Proactive, Ukraine

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Monday:

• The People's Bank of China is unlikely to cut the rate on reverse repo this month since it left the rate on the medium-term lending facility unchanged last week, a sign it intends to "hold steady" in the near term and sees current liquidity supply and demand stable, the Securities Daily said citing analysts. Following top policymakers’ call last Wednesday for boosting market confidence, the PBOC increased injections on Thursday and Friday, pushing down the benchmark DR007, the newspaper said. The increased injections also served to meet higher demand in the second half of the month due to tax payments and China Government Bond issuances, the newspaper said.
• China’s monetary policies must be proactive, act timely and stay “ahead of the market curve” to guide expectations, state media Xinhua said commenting on the March 16 meeting of the financial stability and development committee. On real estate, China must be prepared to support a new model for development including policies that support guaranteed housing, Xinhua said. Regulations on Chinese companies seeking overseas listings will be optimized to present more investment opportunities to global investors, Xinhua said.
• China won’t accept any external pressure to change its position on the Ukraine issue, the Global Times said citing Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who commented on Saturday following the Xi-Biden call on Friday. China is keeping neutral on the current conflict and won’t be pressured to take sides, the state-owned newspaper said. There is no evidence that China is considering military assistance to Russia, the newspaper said dismissing a western media report. China will however retaliate if Washington imposes sanctions on China, it said.