MNI China Press Digest April 29: May Holiday, SWIFT, SOE Funds

Highlights from Chinese press reports on Wednesday:

• Chinese authorities expect daily inbound and outbound passenger flows to average 2.25 million during the upcoming five-day May holiday, up from 2.17 million last year, Xinhua reported, adding that despite a sharp rise in fuel prices and supply constraints that have forced many international airlines to scale back capacity, China’s civil aviation sector has maintained sufficient bandwidth. Data from Umetrip show bookings for international routes have risen steadily year on year ahead of the holiday, with multiple Chinese airlines planning more flights than in the same period last year. Outbound travel demand remains particularly strong for Southeast Asia, with destinations such as Indonesia, Laos, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam all recording increases of more than 30%.
• SWIFT’s ambition to become a core infrastructure player for global digital finance could overlap with and potentially compete against Chinese systems such as CIPS, cross-border digital yuan payment initiatives and multilateral CBDC bridges, researchers affiliated with the National Institution for Finance and Development said. Although SWIFT emphasises its neutrality, it has been used repeatedly as a geopolitical tool since the 2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict and remains subject to the legal jurisdiction and sanctions regimes of major Western countries, the researchers said. SWIFT’s expansion into digital assets could deepen China’s reliance on external infrastructure for cross-border digital finance, amplifying risks related to financial sanctions and extraterritorial jurisdiction, while weakening China’s influence over next-generation financial standards, they added. The researchers said these developments warrant close monitoring and assessment. (Source: Yicai)
• China must improve its legal framework to support increased transfers of state-owned enterprise profits into public finances, Yicai said in an editorial, adding that officials have recently emphasised that the use of state-owned capital returns should balance enterprise development with sharing across the population. Regulating the remittance of state-owned capital returns will support healthier development, while effective use of those returns will help build a more sustainable social support system. Transfers of state-owned capital returns have become an increasingly important source of funding for the general public budget, helping to improve fiscal sustainability and underpin stable economic and social operations, Yicai said.