MNI China Press Digest October 13: Housing, E-CNY, Q4 Growth

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Thursday:

• Some local governments in China are buying apartments previously intended for sale in the private market, or encouraging state-owned enterprises to purchase units, and then turning them into public housing in a bid to shore up the sluggish property market, Caixin reported. Since September, the provinces of Hubei, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Gansu and Guizhou have started a bidding process to purchase housing to resettle residents affected by shanty town renewals, said Caixin. Some SOEs have also stepped into the market. Zhengzhou Real Estate Group in Zhengzhou city, Henan province has moved to purchase 100,000 units for the city to provide subsidised apartments to talented workers in an attempt to bail out housing projects that are difficult to sell, the newspaper said.
• The People’s Bank of China will explore the establishment of a multilateral cooperation mechanism for the cross-border payment of digital yuan, and participate in the Multiple Central Bank Digital Currency (m-CBDC) Bridge Project advocated by the Bank for International Settlements, according to a statement on its social media account. The PBOC will start testing the technology supporting the interconnection between the digital yuan and the local “FPS” fast payment system in Hong Kong to support the settlement needs of Hong Kong residents and merchants, the statement said. On the mainland, the PBOC has carried out digital yuan pilot projects in 15 provinces with over 5.6 million stores supporting e-CNY payment, with total transactions reaching CNY100.04 billion as of August, the statement said.
• Many local governments plan to boost Q4 economic growth by focusing on stabilising investment and promoting consumption, Securities Daily reported. Sichuan, Shandong, Hebei and Jiangsu provinces have kicked off major investment projects after the National Day holiday, the newspaper said. Local governments are expected to expand the issuance of consumer coupons and subsidies in Q4 to help offset the possible slowdown in export growth, the newspaper said citing Wang Qing, chief analyst with Golden Credit Rating. Hainan province said it would make good use of the CNY50 million of funds provided for tourist coupons, while Shanghai city will vigorously promote automobiles and home sales, the newspaper said.