MNI China Press Digest, Jan 7: GDP, RRR Cuts, Private Company

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

Monday:

     China's economy is expected to reach the bottom after the first quarter and

the growth may stabilize in April and May, said China Business News late Sunday

citing Sheng Songcheng , a former advisor to the People's Bank of China. The

government's stimulus policy is taking a longer time to kick into the real

economy this time. The end of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019 are basically

the hardest time for China, the newspaper said citing Sheng. He also thinks that

the yuan exchange rate won't fall below the psychological 7 level against the

U.S. dollar this year, and it is possible to appreciate, the newspaper said.

     The market is expecting a few more reserve ratio(RRR) cuts this year,

following the central bank's latest move to cut RRR by one percentage point last

Friday, said China Business News today. The PBOC is expected to cut a total 400

basis points of RRR in 2019, so there will be 300 basis points to be cut, said

the newspaper citing Xing Ziqiang, chief economist at Morgan Stanley China. 

- Ren Zeping, chief economist at Evergrande also suggests the PBOC may have at

least three more RRR cuts this year, as well as to lower the rate of open market

operations and Medium-term Lending Facility, the newspaper said.

     Private enterprises are encouraged to participate in major national

technology projects, said Xinhua News Agency late Sunday citing Wang Zhigang,

the Minister of Science and Technology. The Ministry will promote universities

and reach institutes to transfer their research outcome in private companies,

and quickly turn into products with market competitiveness.

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

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 10 8532 5998; email: william.bi@mni-news.com

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