MNI China Press Digest June 9: Pro-Growth, Yuan, Home Market

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Thursday:

• Local governments must urgently refine and implement pro-growth policies to ensure reasonable economic growth in the second quarter, in the face of still prominent downward pressure, according to a statement on a government website following a State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang late Wednesday. It is necessary to further expand opening up and stabilising foreign investment and trade to promote employment, the meeting said. The government will study a phased reduction or exemption of port-related charges and faster customs clearance and port efficiency to help stabilise international supply chains, the meeting said.
• The yuan is likely to stay around the 6.68 level against the U.S. dollar by the end of June, compared to Wednesday’s closing price of 6.6830, Yicai.com reported citing its survey of economists. The economists raised their forecast for the yuan-dollar exchange rate by year-end to 6.63 from a previous 6.67 forecast made last month, Yicai said. The yuan remained relatively strong against the yen, euro and pound, though weakening against the dollar recently. Allowing a more flexible yuan will provide room for monetary policy to stabilise economic growth, said Yicai citing Xu Sitao, chief economist at Deloitte China.
• Potential homebuyers remain cautious despite eased rules and lower mortgage interest rates in over 100 cities to prop up the market, the Securities Times reported. The total transaction volume of second-hand housing in first-tier city Shenzhen in the first five months of this year was equivalent to a single month in 2020 when the market thrived, the newspaper said citing an unnamed sales manager. Policies should focus on reducing the cost of the entire supply chain and restoring developers’ credit, given that it is hard to stimulate demand when buyers are afraid of increasing leverage amid uncertain income expectations, the newspaper said citing analysts.