MNI China Press Digest Nov 14: PBOC Risk, SAFE, Property

Highlights from Chinese press reports on Tuesday:

• China’s banking risks remain controllable with key indicators at a reasonable range, according to the People’s Bank of China. A recent PBOC report found 4,000 commercial banks were low risk, with 300 classified as high risk which accounted for less than 2% of all banking assets. The 24 largest banks accounted for 70% of assets and had excellent ratings. In future, officials will promote marketisation and rule of law, and dismantle a number of high-risk and large-scale enterprise groups. The central bank will firmly ensure the country has no systemic risks. (Source: Yicai)
• China will implement policies to improve cross border FX transfers to boost trade and support the real economy, according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. In an article, SAFE said new policies will allow more SMEs access to high-quality FX services and banks will have more credit-management autonomy. Additionally, financial institutions will be guided to facilitate trade settlement for new business models such as cross-border e-commerce. Officials will establish four pilot zones where banks can provide more cross-border fund settlement facilities for compliant FX exchange receipts and payments. (Source: Yicai)
• Home purchases have picked up as household medium and long-term loans continued to rise by CNY37.5 billion in October compared to the same period last year, following the CNY201.4 billion increase in September, the central bank-run newspaper Financial News reported citing Dong Ximiao, chief researcher at China Merchants Union Finance. Medium and long-term corporate loans, however, decreased by CNY79.5 billion y/y due to seasonal factors and less working days following holidays in early October, said Wen Bin, chief economist at China Minsheng Bank. Wen also noted that enterprises' new financing needs decreased as the official manufacturing PMI ended its consecutive rises for four months and fell back to the contraction range of 49.5 in October.