MNI China Daily Summary: Friday, June 20

EXCLUSIVE: The Loan Prime Rate (LPR) was left unchanged on Friday as the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) intensified efforts to internationalise the yuan, amid growing foreign interest in yuan-denominated assets and rising overseas investment by Chinese firms.

POLICY: China's Loan Prime Rate held steady, in line with expectations following the 10 basis-points cut in May, according to a PBOC statement. LPR remained unchanged at 3.0% for the one-year maturity and 3.5% for the five-year tenor and over. 

LIQUIDITY: The People's Bank of China (PBOC) conducted CNY161.2 billion via 7-day reverse repos, with the rate unchanged at 1.40%. The operation led to a net drain of CNY41.3 billion after offsetting the maturity of CNY202.5 reverse repo today, according to Wind Information.

RATES: The seven-day weighted average interbank repo rate for depository institutions (DR007) fell to 1.4941% from 1.5441% , Wind Information showed. The overnight repo average increased to 1.3742% from 1.3713%. 

YUAN: The currency strengthened to 7.1837 against the dollar from the previous 7.1882. The PBOC set the dollar-yuan central parity rate lower at 7.1695, compared with 7.1729 set on Thursday. The fixing was estimated at 7.1826 by Bloomberg survey today.

BONDS: The yield on 10-year China Government Bonds was last at 1.6420%, up from the previous close of 1.6400%, according to Wind Information.

STOCKS: The Shanghai Composite Index edged down 0.07% to 3,359.90, while the CSI300 index increased 0.09% to 3,846.64. The Hang Seng Index rose 1.26% to 23,530.48.

FROM THE PRESS: Chinese traders reported a significant advance in festive season orders from the U.S., signalling the peak Christmas period will arrive nearly two months earlier than usual, Yicai news agency reported, citing sellers in the export hub of Yiwu. Platform data showed that on June 3, the first day of the Foreign Trade 618 promotional event, U.S. Christmas related orders exceeded 50% of total business, with festive goods and gift toys up 120% and 600% y/y. Jiang Jiangping, head of the Yiwu Christmas Industry Association, said his members expected negligible impact from U.S. tariffs.

Authorities could consider issuing more consumer goods trade-in funds once the current allocation runs out, said Zhao Wei, chief economist at Shenwan Hongyuan Securities, noting that CNY138 billion out of this year’s CNY300 billion remain un-issued. At present, all regions are expanding or adjusting their subsidy scheme based on local conditions or advantageous industries, with some speeding up issuance while others suspend online usage. Experts have called for the scheme to be expanded to offset diminishing marginal utility.

Bond sales in the science and technology innovation sector have accelerated with a significant drop in issuance rates and more private firm participation, Securities Daily reported. The new tech financing bond platform, set up earlier this year, has boosted issuance to CNY889 billion as of June 19. Authorities have pledged to optimise the issuance of new bonds and the trading system, improve supporting mechanisms such as interest subsidies and guarantees, as well as quicken the launch of tech-related ETFs. The government plans to develop equity-bond combination products such as exchangeable bonds and convertible bonds, the newspaper added.