MNI China Press Digest Nov 18: Xi-Biden, Green Tool, Yuan

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Thursday:

• The virtual meeting between Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden on Nov. 16 was "frank, constructive, substantive and fruitful," and increased the world's positive expectations for China-U.S. relations development, the Communist Party's People' Daily said in an official editorial. The two countries must stick to a bottom line of avoiding conflict and opposition, the newspaper said. The U.S. should clearly implement its promise of not supporting Taiwan's independence, the newspaper said.
• China's move on Wednesday to set up a CNY200 billion special relending facility to support the clean and efficient use of coal will add to in total CNY2 trillion of capital support from commercial banks toward clean energy projects, the Global Times reported citing experts. The relending facility, in addition to previous financial lending tools to support carbon emissions cuts, will focus on supporting clean coal, including green and smart exploitation as well as efficient usage, the newspaper said citing the State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang. National banks will issue preferential loans to such projects, while the central bank will provide relending based on the size of the principal, the newspaper said.
• The Chinese yuan will continue to strengthen in the longer run, and the U.S.'s possible move to lower some tariffs will help to further expand China's exports to the U.S. and promote the appreciation of yuan against the dollar, wrote Peng Bo, a deputy researcher at CAITEC, a think tank affiliated with the Ministry of Commerce in a commentary run by the 21st Century Busines Herald. China will allow a stronger yuan as it can help offset the pressure of imported inflation, Peng wrote. On Wednesday, the onshore yuan strengthened above 6.37 against the U.S. to the highest level since Jun1, even amid a rising dollar index, due to China's strong exports and increased demand for foreign exchange settlement, Peng said.