MNI China Press Digest Mar 26: Yuan, Fin'l Risks, Xinjiang

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Friday:

• The Chinese yuan may not maintain last year's momentum through the early part of this year, and is unlikely to trade past 6 against the U.S. dollar in 2021, Guan Tao, chief economist of BOC International and a former official at the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, said in a forum on Wallstreetcn.com on Thursday. The PBOC is likely to increase yuan flexibility, control capital inflows and expand outflows to ease the pace of appreciation, even as it has refrained from forex market interventions, Guan said. The yuan closed at 6.5340 at 16:30 Beijing time Thursday, hitting the weakest level this year, MNI noted.
• China will inject more credit into less developed provinces to balance uneven growth and prevent worsening risks of regional financial crises, the Securities Times said citing a PBOC online forum. China will boost funding to key sectors including small enterprises, low-carbon industries, and high-tech manufacturing while limiting mortgage lending, the newspaper said. The central bank urges closer collaboration among financial institutions, regulators and local governments, the Times report said.
• Chinese consumers have the right to punish western companies, including H&M and Nike, which participate in sanctions against Xinjiang for alleged forced labor practices, the Global Times, an official newspaper of the Communist Party of China, said in a Friday editorial. The confrontation over Xinjiang may further escalate into a hot-spot issue with the U.S., which is exploiting the issue to incite confrontation between China and Islamic countries, it said. China should show "strength and attractiveness" and promote favorable changes, the newspaper said.