MNI China Press Digest Nov 22: Yuan, Real Estate, Car Export

Highlights from Chinese press reports on Wednesday:

• The market should brace for further yuan appreciation, with more short squeezes expected especially over the typical November to January settlement period, Yicai.com reported citing analysts. The yuan is likely to fluctuate within the range of 7.15 to 7.17 against the U.S. dollar in the next few days, said Zhou Hao, chief economist at Guotai Junan Securities. Short squeezes driven by the improvement in China-U.S. relations and expectation of the end of rate hike is driving the recent yuan rebound, though the sustainability is unclear. The yuan has appreciated by nearly 2,000 points in two weeks.
• Sunac China has become the first large-scale real-estate company to complete domestic and overseas debt restructuring, and secure CNY3.48 billion in cooperative financing from the government-backed asset manager Huarong, the Securities Daily reported. The company has resolved CNY90 billion in debt, and reduced it by USD4.5 billion. It will have no debt repayment pressure in the overseas public market within two-three years, while the company still needs to stabilise operating cash flow and use unrestricted funds to ensure the delivery of housing projects to avoid further deterioration of brand credit, said Yan Yuejin, director at the E-house China Research and Development Institution.
• China exported 4.24 million automobiles from January to October this year, up 58% y/y with the average export price rising to USD20,000 from USD18,000 in 2022, according to Cui Dongshu, secretary-general at the Passenger Car Association. Cui expects car exports to remain strong in Q4 reflecting the competitiveness of China's automobile industry. Chinese manufacturers have also benefited from increased demand from Russia following the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Cui also noted that the car export market has recovered stronger than the domestic market this year. (Source: Yicai)