MNI China Press Digest April 22: Australia Snub, Green Bonds

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Thursday:

• China will surely respond accordingly if Australia "continues on the wrong path," the Global Times reported citing Chen Hong, director of the Australian Studies Center at East China Normal University, following the scrapping of an agreement for the state of Victoria to cooperate under the Belt and Road Initiative. The move by Australia could further worsen frosty relations and disrupt trade and economic ties, the newspaper said.
• China will promote green bonds to help develop green finance and low-carbon projects to achieve carbon-neutral goals, according to a statement on the PBOC website. China will optimize the management model for bond issuance and unify the definition standards of green projects to cut the cost of issuing, trading, and managing green bonds, the PBOC said.
• China will direct CNY2.8 trillion to stabilize the job market, improve livelihoods and support businesses to offset the impact of withdrawing some pandemic stimulus, the State Council said on its website. Provincial governments should direct those funds to local authorities instead of keeping them, and any interception and embezzlement should be severely punished, the government said.