MNI China Press Digest July 14: Debt, Export, Platform Economy

Highlights from Chinese press reports on Friday:

• China should pay attention to the balance between government debt and economic growth as local-government debt has become an important concern, according to Sun Xiaoxia, former director at the Finance Department of the Ministry of Finance. Sun said China had benefited from using local-government debt for national development in the past, but now faced the rapid expansion of local debt scale and rising debt pressure. Authorities should consider increasing the national general budget deficit, which still has room for fiscal expansion. (Source: 21st Century Herald)
• China does not expect a short-term recovery in external demand as exports dropped 12.4% in U.S. dollar terms in June y/y marking the second month of y/y declines, according to Lv Daliang, spokesperson at the General Administration of Customs. Speaking at a press conference, Lv said China’s exports saw a strong start to the year but in recent months have suffered from falling external demand and geopolitics impacts. High inflation in developed nations and persisting geopolitical conflicts will further dampen China’s external demand environment in H2, he said.
• The government’s aim to promote a platform economy does not mean such companies can revert to past practices of rapid expansion and low-level homogeneous competition, said the state-owned Securities Times in a commentary following Premier Li Qiang’s call to create a friendly environment for them. The government should guide them to strengthen technological innovation, empower the real economy and improve international competitiveness to achieve high-quality development of the sector. Platform firms should also help to provide new growth engines and create more employment opportunities. (Source: Securities Times)