MNI China Press Digest Sept 23: Stimulus, Demand, Housing

Highlights from Chinese press reports on Monday:

• Authorities should implement at least CNY10 trillion of economic stimulus within one to two years by mainly issuing ultra-long-term special treasury bonds, said Liu Shijin, deputy director at the Economic Affairs Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. The stimulus should combine reforms to improve affordable housing, education, medical care, social security, elderly care for migrant workers, and accelerate the construction of smaller towns within the metropolitan area. The economic revitalisation plan should aim at doubling the country's middle-income group to 800-900 million people in about 10 years, as China has the potential to grow by 4-5% over the next five-10 years, said Liu. (Source: 21st Century Business Herald)
• The government needs to boost consumer demand to ensure China’s economy meets its potential growth rate, said Cai Fang, chief expert at the National Think Tank of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, at a recent forum. Cai said geopolitics and anti-globalisation made external demand uncertain, and infrastructure and industrial investment was not large enough to be the main economic driver. Policy support to formalise the care economy would boost GDP given one-third of social services' labour time was unpaid and would increase employment opportunities for women, Cai noted.
• Officials should eliminate banks’ concerns regarding whitelisted housing project lending by relaxing due diligence, said Wang Yiming, vice chairman at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges. Banks' enthusiasm to issue loans will increase if project and developers’ risks are separated, said Wang. Promoting the central bank's re-lending tool to buy-up unsold housing and narrowing the gap between new and existing mortgage rates can stabilise the market, Wang added. (Source: Yicai.com)