MNI China Press Digest, June 9: Fiscal, Banks, Australia

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

on Wednesday:

     The proceeds from Special China Government Bonds and increased fiscal

deficits should be allocated to county-level administrations as soon as possible

through a new fiscal transfer system to support small-and-medium enterprises and

people's living expenses, according to a statement from the State Council's

executive meeting. The meeting, chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday,

determined that the funds, totalling CNY2 trillion, would also be used to

finance public spending on the construction of public health facilities and

other pandemic-control activities.

     China's banks will have to significantly reduce outstanding high yield

structural deposits by the end of this year under new requirements from the

banking regulator, according to an unnamed source cited by the Shanghai

Securities News. The move aims to prevent companies from conducting carry

trades, the newspaper said. There were signs that firms are borrowing at cheap

prices, thanks to ample liquidity, and depositing the borrowed money for

guaranteed higher yields rather than investing in the real economy as the

central government hoped.

     China's education authority issued an alert on Tuesday warning Chinese

students of rising racial discrimination and lingering coronavirus risks in

Australia. The alert came after China announced punitive tariffs on Australian

barley in May, a move considered retaliation to Australian endorsement of U.S.

proposals to investigate the origin of the pandemic virus, MNI noted. Education

agencies interviewed by Global Times said overseas student numbers in Australia

would be sluggish for at least a year.

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

--MNI Sydney Bureau; +61 405322399; email: lachlan.colquhoun.ext@marketnews.com

[TOPICS: M$A$$$,M$Q$$$,MI$$$$]