MNI China Press Digest Jan 4: Yuan, US Delistings, Cold War

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Monday:

The yuan may not be as strong as the market has predicted because developed economies are likely to recover following vaccinations against Covid-19 and China's exports growth may also decline, Sina.com reported citing Guan Tao, an economist with BOC International Securities and a former official with China's central bank. Citing another view, Sina reported comments from Haibin Zhu, the chief economist with JP Morgan, who said the yuan will maintain a strong trend through the first half of 2021 and surge past 6.25 yuan by the year end.

The U.S. will cause damage to the rights of global investors and undermine faith in its capital markets by punishing Chinese companies, the Ministry of Commerce said last week following the New York Stock Exchange's delisting of China Mobile, China Telecommunications and China Unicom. The measures will have a limited impact on the financing and operations of the three companies as the percentage of stocks listed and traded in the U.S. is small, the Securities Times reported citing Shen Meng, the executive director at Chanson Capital.

U.S. hardliners displayed their cold war mentality when they fretted over China's investment deal with the EU before seeing its content, the China Daily said in an editorial. The U.S. is sacrificing other countries' interests to serve its strategy when it asks them to decouple from China, and such a policy is doomed to fail, the newspaper said. The U.S. should focus on improving its leadership and not obstruct other countries' development, the editorial said.