MNI China Press Digest, July 30: Trade, Special Bonds, Small Banks

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Thursday:

China plans to boost exports by providing trade-oriented businesses with capital and market support, the People's Daily said citing the weekly State Council meeting held Wednesday. The initiatives aim to attract foreign investment through an enhanced policy environment which expands the service sector, the report said. The government also stressed the need to increase employment opportunities and incomes for rural migrant workers by providing them with more incentives to settle in cities, encouraging their participation in infrastructure construction and helping fund their business ventures, the Daily said.

China's Ministry of Finance urged officials to complete the issuance of new local government special bonds by the end of October, the Securities Daily reported. Provincial governments are given the autonomy to allocate the funds to speed up projects that support urban renewal and the construction of public health facilities as a priority, the newspaper said citing a document from the Ministry. Local authorities must use the funds for public welfare projects that generate returns and are banned from rolling over existing debts or paying the salaries of civil servants, the document read.

China has disbursed CNY200 billion to 18 provinces from special-purpose local government bonds to help regional lenders replenish capital, with each province receiving around CNY11.1 billion, the 21st Century Business Herald reported in an unsourced article. City and rural commercial banks are under the greatest pressure as their capital adequacy ratios, at 12.65% and 12.81% in Q1, are close to the so-called red line of 10.5% set by regulators. The ratios for major state-owned banks, joint-stock banks and private banks are 16.14%, 13.44% and 14.44%, the newspaper said.