MNI China Daily Summary: Wednesday, April 23

LIQUIDITY: The People's Bank of China (PBOC) conducted CNY108 billion via 7-day reverse repos, with the rate unchanged at 1.50%. The operation led to a net injection of CNY3.5 billion after offsetting the maturities of CNY104.5 billion reverse repos today, according to Wind Information.

RATES: The seven-day weighted average interbank repo rate for depository institutions (DR007) fell to 1.6508% from 1.7079%, Wind Information showed. The overnight repo average decreased to 1.6255% from 1.7033%.

YUAN: The currency strengthened to 7.2955 to the dollar from 7.3145 on Tuesday. The PBOC set the dollar-yuan central parity rate higher at 7.2116, compared with 7.2074 set on Tuesday. The fixing was estimated at 7.3417 by Bloomberg survey today.

BONDS: The yield on 10-year China Government Bonds was last at 1.6570%, up from Tuesday's close of 1.6475%, according to Wind Information.

STOCKS: The Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.10% to 3,296.36, while the CSI300 index gained 0.08% to 3,786.88. The Hang Seng Index rose 2.37% at 22,072.62.

FROM THE PRESS: China should prioritise countercyclical policy, especially lowering the policy interest rate and expanding public investment, to drive a significant increase in social income and consumption in the short term, in response to declining external demand amid U.S. tariff disruptions, according to a report by China Finance 40 Forum. Measures related to encouraging childbirth, construction of metropolitan areas, and migrant workers’ urban settlement, which can significantly increase the consumption propensity of specific groups, should be introduced as soon as possible, the report said. (Source: Yicai)

The stability of the yuan and sound operation of the foreign exchange market will be supported by additional measures to be introduced in a timely manner as needed, as China takes expanding domestic demand as a long-term strategy, said Li Bin, deputy director and spokesperson of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. Authorities will continue to strengthen the monitoring of forex, maintain yuan flexibility, and resolutely correct any pro-cyclical behaviour, prevent overshooting risks and guard against abnormal cross-border capital flows, said Li. (Source: Securities Daily)

China’s online retail sales exceeded CNY3.6 trillion in Q1, of which online goods sales accounted for nearly CNY3 trillion, an increase of 5.7%, People’s Daily reported citing data from the Ministry of Commerce. The government and enterprises are working together to help exporters redirect their good sales to the domestic market, with more than 10 e-commerce platforms directly purchasing from exporters or setting up special promotion areas for them, the newspaper said.