MNI China Press Digest, Aug 19: No Easing, Land Sales, Pork

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Wednesday:

China will likely refrain from drastically reducing interest rates and RRRs in Q3 as the recovery gains traction, though policies might not lean towards tightening given the worsening international environment, the China Daily reported citing Wang Qing, the chief macro analyst at Golden Credit Rating. Future policy directions will focus more on structural changes, such as guiding existing financial resources into the non-financial sector, the newspaper said referring to Premier Li Keqiang's executive meeting notes from Monday.

Land sales in some of China's top cities are cooling as authorities in housing hotspots began to tighten regulations from July, the Economic Information Daily reported. Local authorities including Beijing, Hangzhou, and Nanjing city have significantly reduced land supply, especially high-value land parcels in the past month, the newspaper said. Land premium rates fell by 0.2 pp to 16.1% in July from June, the newspaper said citing data by CRIC. Land transactions have declined in the last two weeks with volume last week down to the lowest level since Q2, the newspaper said citing CRIC.

A Chinese vaccine against African swine fever will undergo expanding clinical trials and be prepared for production, the official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday citing the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. The vaccine appeared to be safe when applied to commercial piglets and sows, Xinhua said citing Bu Zhigao, head of the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute. Pork prices in China have stayed near record levels in the last two years as the ASF decimated herds.