MNI China Press Digest Sep 28: Liquidity, SME Support, Profits

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Wednesday:

• The People’s Bank of China is likely to maintain liquidity injections via reverse repo operations to keep month-end liquidity reasonably ample and stabilise money market interest rates, the China Securities Journal reported citing analysts. The PBOC has injected net liquidity over the past seven trading days and the net injection of CNY173 billion on Tuesday was the highest since the end of February, the newspaper said. The market is relatively short of long-term funds as the end of Q3 and the week-long National Day holiday in early October approaches. Increasing the supply of funds can stabilise market expectations and reduce the need for precautionary funds, the newspaper said citing analysts.
• China will increase efforts to support firms, especially SMEs and manufacturers by delaying the payment of some administrative fees and deposits, CCTV News reported citing the State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li. The payment of 14 administrative charges including farmland reclamation and sewage treatment fees totaling over CNY53 billion will be postponed in Q4, as well as the payment of various project deposits totaling about CNY63 billion, the meeting said.
• The profitability of industrial enterprises continued to recover in August as 27 out of 41 major industrial sectors reported improved profit performances, the China Securities Journal reported citing data from the National Bureau of Statistics. Easing commodity prices helped narrow the profit decline of equipment manufacturing for a fourth consecutive month to -2.0% in the first eight months compared to -3.7% in Jan-July period. Automobile manufacturing profits increased by 1.02 times year-on-year in August, the highest growth rate in a year, driven by stimulus to boost auto consumption, the newspaper said. Industrial profits are expected to continue to improve as policymakers focus on expanding demand and strengthening rescue policies, the newspaper said citing analysts.