MNI Press Digest Jan 20: Prudent Policy, 10% Q1, NPL Disposal

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Wednesday:

China's top decisionmakers have indicated a preference for prudent monetary policies this year while still supporting the recovery, the Securities Daily said in a commentary. China is likely to continue implementing pandemic relief policy tools such as debt deferment and credit loans for micro and small businesses, the newspaper wrote. The PBOC is likely to provide liquidity in accordance with the size and needs of different financial institutions and avoid any excessive injections, the commentary said.

The Chinese economy may grow more than 10% in Q1 before slowing to 9%, 6% and 5.5% in the following quarters, the China Securities Journal reported citing Liu Qiao, the dean of the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University. Consumption could rebound to 10% this year should the epidemic come under control, the newspaper said citing Wang Yiming, a former deputy director of the Development Research Center of the State Council. Real estate investment may shrink under credit constraints, infrastructure investment may be limited to 5% growth by local government debts and a lack of profitable projects, although manufacturing investment could register 8%, Liu said.

China should open up the market for the disposal of surging non-performing loans as small businesses struggled during the pandemic, the Economic Information Daily reported citing Li Qian, a manager of Golden Credit Rating. Regulators should reduce requirements such as provisioning coverage ratios and give incentives to asset management companies to further accelerate the drive, the Daily reported citing Wen Bin, a researcher from China Minsheng Bank.