MNI China Press Digest, Sep 11: Car Sales, Debts Risks, Media

MNI (Beijing) - The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Friday:

China's vehicle sales are forecast to surge over the rest of the year as holidays and promotions starting in September attract more buyers, the Economic Information Daily reported. Both sales and production volumes in August rose for the fifth month, with sales gaining 11.6% y/y and production up 6.3% y/y, the newspaper said citing data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. China's ongoing recovery from the coronavirus and stronger growth are supporting the auto industry, the Daily said citing Industrial Securities.

China's local governments must strengthen the monitoring and management of debts, the China Securities Journal reported citing industry sources. Some authorities have reported irregularities including billions of yuan funds remaining unused, difficulties meeting obligations, a lack of checks and balances, and illegal guarantees and false approvals, the newspaper said. The scale of local government debts is still increasing under pressure to support social services and maintain growth, according to the journal.

The official People's Daily refused to publish an article by U.S. Ambassador Terry Branstad submitted on Aug. 26 because it was "full of holes" and contained untrue statements, and because the author would not allow the content to be edited, the Communist Party newspaper said in a statement on government portal China.com.cn. The U.S. cannot call Chinese media "propaganda machines" while expecting their views to be published, the Daily said. The U.S. is being driven by a Cold War mentality and this ideology has restricted Chinese media operations in America, the People's Daily said.