MNI China Press Digest, Oct. 23: PBOC Tool, Markets, Property

     BEIJING (MNI) - The following lists highlights from the Chinese press for

Tuesday:

     Setting up supporting tools to help private enterprises with bond financing

does not mean a change in direction for monetary policy, wrote Xu Zhong,

director of the research bureau at the People's Bank of China (PBOC) in an op-ed

piece published in the China Securities Journal. The PBOC said late Monday it

will use refinancing to provide initial funds for professional institutions,

allowing them to ease access for private companies to the corporate bond market,

mainly via selling credit risk management tools to private firms, providing

guarantees or credit enhancement. The central bank also said it would boost

relending and rediscount quotas by CNY150 bln to boost financing needs of

smaller firms. According to Xu, it is policy innovation to ease temporary

financing difficulties for private enterprises that have competitive technology

and good market prospects. (Link to the story: https://bit.ly/2PSTvhr)

     Eleven securities brokerages have reached a joint agreement to invest CNY21

billion to set up a parent asset management plan, which will serve as a guiding

fund to support various securities companies in creating several sub asset

management plans, the http://Wallstreetcn.com reported on Tuesday, citing an

announcement by the Securities Association of China. The aim is to attract funds

from banks, insurance firms, state-owned enterprises and government platforms

and form an asset management plan with a total size of CNY100 billion. The plan

aims to bailout listed firms with an equity pledge risk and ease the liquidity

pressure for prospective listed companies amid the recent A-share slump, the

report said. (Link to the story: https://bit.ly/2q5V4Nu)

     Housing prices in tier-one cities have cooled overall, with real estate

developers in Beijing and Shanghai trying a series of promotional tools

including offering discounts and free interior design, the CCTV Finance reported

on Tuesday. The CCTV reporter visited more than ten residential sales projects

in Beijing, finding all projects are offering discounts ranging from 1% to 15%.

While in Shanghai, there are projects offering BMW cars as a 'gift' for buying

property, the report said. According to the report, the supply of new homes in

first-tier cities has increased recently, and fierce market competition is the

main drivers for discount sales. The situation will likely continue, as an

increasing number of new homes are expected on the market in the near future.

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

--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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