MNI China Press Digest Sept 12: Mortgages, Economy, Insurance

MNI (SYDNEY) - Highlights from Chinese press reports on Thursday:

• Early mortgage repayments are impacting banks’ profitability and increasing operating costs, China Securities Journal reported. Outstanding mortgages in six major state-owned banks totalled CNY25.49 trillion in H1, down more than CNY320 billion from end-2023. Banks are reluctant to enforce relationship-damaging penalties, despite incurring additional manpower and resource costs needed to process early repayments, the newspaper said. Authorities should encourage commercial banks to innovate new re-lending and re-mortgage products, especially interest calculation methods to balance the interests of both parties better, the newspaper said, citing an unnamed industry insider.
• China should intensify macroeconomic policy regulation in H2 and work to realise the potential of domestic demand, according to Xiang Libin, deputy director at the National Development and Reform Commission. Speaking at the 11th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress, Xiang said officials should unswervingly complete this year’s economic and social development tasks, while noting adverse external effects were increasing and domestic demand remained insufficient. (Source: Yicai)
• China will support leveraging long-term investment potential of insurance funds, according to the latest guidelines from the State Council. The move signals insurance funds’ importance in the A-share market following policymakers’ repeated calls for developing long-term capital. High-dividend stocks are expected to become a key asset class for insurance firms, said analysts at China Merchants Securities. By end-Q2, the stock investment balance of property and personal insurance firms totalled CNY137 billion and CNY1.94 trillion, data from the National Financial Regulatory Administration showed. (Source: Securities Times)