MNI China Press Digest Sept 4: PBOC, Trade-ins, Tariffs

MNI (BEIJING) - Highlights from Chinese press reports on Wednesday:

• The People’s Bank of China will likely cut the reserve requirement ratio in Q3 to support the accelerated issuance of government bonds since August and help ease increased liquidity pressure in mid-September as the medium-term lending facility operation has been delayed to around the 25th of each month from the 15th, China Securities Journal reported citing Li Chao, chief economist at Zheshang Securities. The expected Fed rate cut would open room for the PBOC to ease, as there is an urgent need to increase countercyclical adjustments in real estate, the newspaper said citing Yi Huan, chief macroeconomist at Huatai Securities.
• The Shanghai city government will arrange more than CNY4 billion in funds from its fiscal budget and ultra-long-term special treasury bonds for the trade-in of automobiles and green home appliances to revive the consumer market, Yicai.com reported. With the scale of consumer subsidies hitting a record high, Shanghai increased subsidies of electric and fuel vehicle trade-ins to CNY15,000 and CNY12,000 for each consumer, said Yicai.
• Canada’s decision to implement tariffs against Chinese exports will not meaningfully impact the nation's export performance due to the small volumes involved, according to Liang Ming, director at the Ministry of Commerce Research Institute. However, Canada’s actions could damage China by influencing other countries to follow suit, which would adversely impact global trade, Liang noted. China can legally take countermeasures against Canada given they have clearly adopted discriminatory prohibitions, he said.