MNI China Press Digest, Nov 20: Currency Swap, Private Economy

     BEIJING (MNI) - The following lists highlights from Tuesday's Chinese

press:

     The People's Bank of China(PBOC)'s recent move to increase or confirm

currency swaps arrangements can help in the hedging of exchange rate risk,

reduce exchange costs and facilitate international financing and trade, China

Business News reported Tuesday, citing Bian Quanshui, macroeconomic analyst at

Sinolink Securities. As an additional source of liquidity in offshore markets,

currency swaps can also be used as a policy tool to stabilize the yuan rate and

maintain financial market stability, the report said, citing Bian. The PBOC has

reached or reconfirmed three currency swap deals in a month, with Bank of

Indonesia, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan, the report said. (Link to

the story: https://bit.ly/2KeyrzE)

     The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission(CBIRC) is currently

formulating a series of policies to ease financing difficulties for

private-sector companies, and is likely to release a guideline to support

private sector development this week, said the Shanghai Securities News Tuesday,

citing Zhou Liang, deputy director of CBIRC. The policies are aimed at removing

blockages between the finance sector and the real economy, the newspaper

reported, citing Zhou. (Link to the story: https://bit.ly/2ziCBlN)

     Instead of just gesturing, local governments should focus on implementing

actual and effective measures to support private-sector companies, avoiding

short-term fixes, the Economic Information Daily said Tuesday in a front-page

commentary. To restore the confidence of private enterprises, it requires

coordination of monetary, fiscal and industrial policies. In particular, the

government must treat private companies equally with SOEs, reform law, tax and

management systems and remove barriers that are not conducive to helping private

enterprises grow. (Link to the story: https://bit.ly/2KfOoFJ)

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

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

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