MNI China Press Digest, May 12: PBOC, US-CHN, Auto Sales

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

on Tuesday:

     Depreciation pressure on the Chinese Yuan constrained the People's Bank of

China from injecting liquidity into the market to match skyrocketing government

bond issuance in May, Securities Daily reported by citing Ming Ming, the chief

fixed-income analyst with Citic Securities. China plans to issue more than

CNY200 billion in local government bonds this month, marking another historical

high, the newspaper reported citing data from Wind Information. Despite this,

the PBOC has not made any major moves since mid-April, when it lowered the

required reserve ratio for targeted financial institutions.

     Washington's denunciation of China is escalating into a war of opinion,

according to an editorial in Communist Party mouthpiece Global Times. China must

prepare for these malicious moves, such as accusations that China is hindering

the resumption of production in the US, and claims that China is using the

Covid-19 pandemic to interfere in the US presidential election. There are also

accusations that China has sabotaged the China-US phase one trade deal, the

editorial said. 

     China's automobile sales grew at 4.4% y/y in April, marking the first

positive monthly growth in 21 months, Economic Information Daily reports. The

Daily cited a statement from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers

(CAAM), and attributed the rise to economic stimulus measures by local

governments. The improvement in auto sales is expected to continue in May, CAAM

said in its statement.

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

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

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