MNI China Press Digest September 27:Stocks, Fiscal, Local Debt

Highlights from Chinese press reports on Wednesday:

• The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) and Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) plan to regulate shareholding reduction activities further. According to a notice issued on Tuesday, if a listed company experiences a breach of the issuance price or net asset value, or it has not paid cash dividends in the past three years or the cumulative cash dividends amount to less than 30% of the average net profit over the past three years, the controlling shareholder or actual controller will not be able to sell the company's shares through the secondary market. (Source: 21st Century Business Herald)
• Several provinces including Sichuan and Hebei have launched a new batch of major projects expected to help stabilise investment in Q4. Sichuan is promoting a total of 1,874 major projects with a total investment of CNY1.1 trillion this week, covering CNY303 billion of infrastructure projects, CNY618 billions of industrial and scientific equipment projects and CNY160 billion of social welfare projects. Investment in major projects grew by 9.9% y/y in the first eight months, largely driving the 3.2% growth in overall fixed-asset investment. (Source: Securities Daily)
• Local-government debt remained within the approved limit at the end of August, the Ministry of Finance noted in a recent report. National local-government debt stood at CNY38.7 trillion in August, within the approved limit of CNY42.1 trillion set by the National People's Congress. Central University of Finance and Economics Professor Bai Yanfeng said local governments can safely manage debt with the gradual improvement of the economy and the lowering of interest rates. Securities Daily said the central government still wants cities and counties to resolve debt risks through increased revenue, cost reduction and asset realisation.