MNI China Press Digest, Nov 22: Private Companies, Investment

     BEIJING (MNI) - The following lists highlights from Thursday's China press:

     The financing difficulties faced by private-sector enterprises are tied to

the failure of financial policies and financial restructuring. Policy makers

wrongly equate resolving financial risks to de-leveraging, instead of more

precisely cleaning up bad debts while increasing 'good' bonds and lending, The

Beijing News said Thursday, citing Li Daokui, an economist who is a former

official at the PBOC. Instead of hoping to lower the overall leverage ratio, the

government should set a clear goal for banks, for example to disposal of NPLs in

three years, the paper reported citing Li. A further reason private-sector

companies find it difficult to borrow from banks is that a large volume of bank

loans flow to local governments for infrastructure construction, Li added.(Link

to the story: https://bit.ly/2R3ZW1I)

     Instead of short-term support policies such as bailouts or subsidies, full

development of private-sector firms requires tax cuts and a better business

environment with fair competition, said Financial News, the newspaper run by the

People's Bank of China, in an op-ed piece Thursday. The key to optimizing the

business environment is to enhance the status of private-sector companies,

making sure they enjoy equal treatment with SOEs in attracting talents,

receiving risk guarantees, obtaining financing and getting through

administrative processes, the newspaper said.(Link to the story:

https://bit.ly/2PP0OL6)

     China's accelerating reform and opening up of the economy, the expansion of

domestic market, growing advantages in the industrial supply chain and deepening

global cooperation have helped to hold off the negative impacts of the Sino-U.S.

trade spat and boost foreign investment in the country, wrote Peng Bo, associate

research fellow at the Ministry of Commerce, in a commentary piece run by China

Business News on Thursday. One of the Trump administration's intentions in

starting a trade war is to attack China while promoting the development of

American manufacturing, Peng said. Though it will cause certain damage to

China's economy in the short-term, it will help China break the dependence on

the U.S., expand markets and upgrade industrial capacity in the long term, Peng

said.(Link to the story: https://bit.ly/2AdHfBp)

--MNI Beijing Bureau; tel: +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: flora.guo@marketnews.com

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

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