MNI Press Digest Jan 15: China-Australia, Q4 GDP

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Friday:

The China-U.S. relationship may improve under a new U.S. president, giving Canberra a chance to repair the relationship with China, the China Daily said in an editorial. Canberra followed the outgoing US administration's lead to be tough on China and this had ruined the past China-Australia economic cooperation which was characterized by mutual benefits, the newspaper said. A recent decision to block the Chinese acquisition of an Australian construction company for national security reasons only worsened the soured relationship, the editorial said.

China's GDP growth in 2020 Q4 may have accelerated past 6.2% from 4.9% in Q3 as strong exports aided the economic recovery and increased domestic demand, the Economic Information Daily reported citing Hua Changchun, chief economist from Guotai Junan Securities. Annual fixed asset investment is expected to have expanded 3.2% supported by real estate as well as manufacturing, which benefited from policy support and improving profitability, the newspaper reported citing Li Chao, chief economist of Zheshang Securities.