China Press Digest Sep 15: MLF, Slower Exports, Pro-business

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Wednesday:

• The People's Bank of China is expected to renew CNY500 out of the total CNY600 billion MLF maturing on Wednesday while keeping the rate at 2.95%, the Securities Times reported citing analyst Wang Yifeng of Everbright Securities. While there may be a shortage in monetary supply created by banks submitting required reserves as well as more government bond issuances in the last 10 days of the month, greater fiscal disbursement CNY300 billion refinancing to SMEs may help replenish basic money, the newspaper said. China's recent loosening measures may take effect in September, with small recoveries in credit lending, aggregate financing and M2, said the newspaper.
• China's growth in exports may begin to cool in Q3, adding pressure to a slowing economy, as western countries' demand has likely peaked and that last year's base of comparison was higher than in the first half, wrote Wu Ge, the chief economist at Changjiang Securities and a former PBOC official, in an article on Yicai.com. Global manufacturing PMI is weakening after a rapid recovery and consumption and real estate investment in the U.S. have started to decline from a previous peak, said Wu. The consumer demand in western developed countries has shifted to services from consumer goods, Wu said.
• China's leaders have repeatedly expressed its "unwavering support" for the development of private businesses and it may be wrong to assume that recent changes in market regulations indicated an anti-business policy shift, the 21st Century Business Herald said in a commentary. Policymakers are trying to create a fairer competition environment as the economy matures and as external markets also change, which result in production overcapacity, so business owners should improve corporate governance, seek innovation and boost competitiveness, said the newspaper, referring to the government crackdowns on properties, tutoring and online businesses. The government should also apply quantifiable rules and avoid leaving the market room for misunderstanding, said the newspaper.