MNI China Press Digest July 15: Local Bonds, Cmdty, Decoupling

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Thursday:

• China's local governments are expected to significantly increase the selling of the so-called special-purpose bonds to invest more in infrastructure in the third quarter, the Securities Times reported citing industry insiders. As of July 12, disclosed offerings of Q3 special-purpose bonds totaled CNY1.3 trillion, compared with CNY1 trillion for the first half, the newspaper said citing Ministry of Finance data. The special-purpose bonds will provide the fiscal stimulus to prop up growth as the previous drivers of exports and real estate began to weaken, the newspaper said citing economists.
• China's State Council said authorities will severely punish and publicly shame those found profiting from illegal hoarding and reselling commodities and evade taxes, after a recent audit found such instances that disrupted market order and fair competition, according to a statement on Gov.cn following a Wednesday meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang. The cabinet also ordered officials to continue to be frugal and curb spending, carry out tax reductions and job creation policies that support small businesses, the statement read. Authorities should also further improve delivery services in rural regions that facilitate e-commerce and spending, according to the statement.
• The U.S. is pursuing "decoupling" with China using human rights issues as a pretext, and such measures as banning U.S. companies from supply chains involving Xinjiang will severely undermine bilateral cooperation on climate change and finance, the Global Times said citing Lv Xiang, a researcher at the state-run think tank Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The Biden administration will open the stage for Chinese countermoves including the first use of China's entity list to punish unreliable supply chain partner companies and cause more boycotts of their goods by Chinese consumers, the newspaper said. Xinjiang accounts for around half of the world's polysilicon capacity, raw material for solar panels, so the measures will hurt U.S. efforts developing renewable energy, the newspaper said.