MNI China Press Digest May 8: FX Reserves, Guangdong, Macro

Highlights from Chinese press reports on Thursday:

• China’s foreign exchange reserves reached USD3.28 trillion in April, up USD41 billion or 1.3% from March, marking the fourth consecutive month-on-month growth, 21st Century Business Herald reported, citing data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. The central bank increased its gold holdings for the sixth consecutive month, hitting 73.7 million ounces after adding 70,000 ounces in April. The bank will likely continue buying gold given its holdings remain less than proportional to the size of the Chinese economy and total forex reserves, the newspaper said, citing analysts.
• Guangdong Province has unveiled a 31 measure plan to boost consumption by strengthening jobs, incomes and the consumer environment. Key actions include attracting 1 million college graduates to the province, training 780,000 skilled workers by 2025 and improving wage and insurance policies. The scheme also expands property income options and childcare support. Authorities will establish a used car trading platform and promote the transparency of second-hand car information.
• Yicai news agency’s Chief Economist Confidence Index reached 49.84 in May, below the expansionary mark of 50 for the first time since September last year, with economists citing the downward trend of external demand and the uncertain prospects of tariff policies. Zhou Xue, chief economist at Mizuho Securities, predicts U.S. tariffs will impact China’s GDP growth by -0.8 percentage points this year, but notes the country still has a relatively large fiscal and monetary policy space to hedge the negative impact of tariffs. Surveyed economists’ average forecast for retail sales growth in April's upcoming data release was 5.45%, down from the actual 5.9% in March.