MNI China Daily Summary: Tuesday, January 13

POLICY: China had 41,700 elderly care institutions registered nationwide by the end of 2025, with 722,000 employees, representing a year-on-year job increase of 12.2%, Li Banghua, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Civil Affairs, told reporters on Tuesday.

LIQUIDITY: The People's Bank of China (PBOC) conducted CNY358.6 billion via 7-day reverse repos, with the rate unchanged at 1.40%. The operation led to a net injection of CNY342.4 billion after offsetting the maturity of CNY16.2 billion today, according to Wind Information.

RATES: The seven-day weighted average interbank repo rate for depository institutions (DR007) rose to 1.5474% from 1.4902%, Wind Information data showed. The overnight repo average rose to 1.3913% from 1.3270%.

YUAN: The currency weakened to 6.9765 against the dollar from the previous 6.9742. The PBOC set the dollar-yuan central parity rate lower at 7.0103, compared with 7.0108 set on Monday. The fixing was estimated at 6.9748 by Bloomberg survey today.

BONDS: The yield on 10-year China Government Bonds was last at 1.8470%, down from the close of 1.8655% previously, according to chinamoney.com.cn.

STOCKS: The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.64% to 4,138.78, while the CSI300 index declined 0.60% to 4,761.03. The Hang Seng Index gained 0.90% at 26,848.47.

FROM THE PRESS: China will optimise its consumer goods trade-in policy and accelerate the expansion of commodity consumption, according to the recent National Commerce Work Conference for 2026. The Ministry of Commerce, together with six other departments, issued a Notice on Improving Quality and Efficiency in the Implementation of the 2026 Trade-in Policy for Consumer Goods, which signalled a strengthened policy push in 2026, Securities Daily noted. The central government will continue to allocate funding through ultra-long-term special treasury bonds, while local governments will provide proportional matching funds, the notice said. Hong Yong, an expert from the think tank of the China Digital-Real Economy Integration 50 Forum, stated that the 2026 trade-in program will further expand consumption and accelerate industrial transformation. Policymakers will optimise subsidy standards and coverage, strengthen funding guarantees, improve the efficiency of disbursement and balance national coordination with local flexibility.

Analysts in China expect the upward move in gold and silver prices could get stronger after setting recent record highs, Yicai reports. The investigation involving Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will accelerate the upward momentum and could lead to irreversible institutional harm, Yicai noted. Central banks’ continued “gold hoarding” also provides long-term support for prices. According to the latest official data, as of the end of December 2025, domestic gold reserves reached 74.15 million ounces (approximately 2,306 metric tons), marking the 14th consecutive month of accumulation. Market analysts note that persistently elevated gold and silver prices reflect not only heightened geopolitical uncertainty but also strong long-term growth in demand.

The announcement that China and the EU have agreed on the need to provide general guidance on price undertakings for Chinese exporters of pure electric vehicles to the EU, represents a soft landing for the case, according to the China Chamber of Commerce for Machinery and Electronics. Companies should fully leverage the outcomes of these consultations, submit price undertaking applications and safeguard their export rights to the EU, the chamber added. The China Chamber of Commerce to the EU emphasised that the proper resolution of the electric vehicle case will significantly boost market confidence and create a more stable and predictable environment for Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers and related supply chain enterprises to invest and operate in Europe.