MNI China Press Digest, May 11: PBOC, Trade, Coronavirus

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

on Monday:

     The People's Bank of China (PBOC) should use market measures to guide bank

deposit rates lower, according to a report in Financial News, an outlet

controlled by the central bank. Citing Xie Yunliang, the chief macroeconomy

analyst with Minsheng Securities, the report says bank liability costs cannot be

effectively lowered by policy interest rates alone. Financial News also cited

the PBOC's quarterly monetary policy report, which said that deposit rates have

already come down due to the lowered rates on banks' loan assets, and also the

converging spread between rates in the deposit market and the money market.

     More than 100,000 foreign companies in China are currently working to

convert exported goods into domestic sales, the Shanghai Securities News

reported citing data from the Ministry of Commerce. The number of newly

registered companies at 1688.com, the largest B2B platform for domestic sales,

grew by 230% m/m in March, the newspaper said citing Wang Hai, the general

manager of the platform. Most companies face a number of challenges, including a

shortage of e-commerce talent, a large number of domestic manufacturers and

fierce price competition in the Chinese market, the report said. 

     A city in China's north east Jilin Province, Shulan, has imposed martial

law in its fight against COVID-19 after an infected woman working in a laundry

spread the virus to 11 others, the Global Times reported. Shulan raised its

epidemic response on Sunday to the highest level, making it the only city in

China to currently do so, the newspaper said. The source of infection remains

unknown, as the woman had no recent travel or exposure history to the epidemic

centre of Wuhan city. The case has alarmed locals and netizens over whether the

virus has found a new way of spreading, the newspaper said. 

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

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

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