China rolls out a slew of measures to lift economy
People's Bank of China governor Pan Gongsheng said funding for factory upgrades and other innovations and to facilitate trading-in of consumer goods will be increased to 800 billion yuan. File photo: RTHK
National Administration of Financial Regulation director Li Yunze said a package of financing policies will soon be forthcoming to help stabilise the property market and support small and micro companies as well as private entities. File photo: RTHK
China Securities and Regulatory Commission chairman Wu Qing said Beijing plans to help facilitate the return of foreign-listed Chinese firms to mainland and Hong Kong stock markets. File photo: RTHK
Beijing announced on Wednesday a whole basket of new measures, including interest rate cuts and extra funding, to prop up the economy as it steps up efforts to offset the impact from sky-high US tariffs.
The measures came shortly after US and mainland officials said US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and chief trade negotiation Jamieson Greer will meet with China's top economic official He Lifeng in Switzerland this weekend for talks, paving the way for a potential de-escalation between the two sides.
Speaking in a press briefing in Beijing, People's Bank of China governor Pan Gongsheng said the central bank will lower the borrowing cost of its seven-day reverse repurchase rate, its benchmark interest rate, by 10 basis points, to 1.4 percent, effective on Thursday.
The central bank, he added, will also reduce the amount of cash that banks must hold in reserve, also known as the reserve requirement ratio (RRR), by 50 basis points from May 15, which will inject a trillion yuan in liquidity into the market.
Other measures include lowering the mortgage rate by 25 basis points, scrapping the RRR for auto financing firms, a new 500 billion yuan relending tool to support service consumption and elderly care, as well as increased funds for factory upgrades and other innovative projects.
"[For example,] relending funds for factory upgrades and other innovations currently involve a quota of 500 billion yuan," said Pan.
"So we will increase this by 300 billion yuan to a total of 800 billion yuan, to support our 'two new' policies of upgrading large-scale equipment and trading-in of consumer goods."
Separately, Li Yunze, director of the National Administration of Financial Regulation (NAFR), said authorities will soon introduce a package of financing policies to help stabilise the property market and support small and micro companies as well as private entities.
Li said there will be "tailor-made services" for business entities that are significantly affected by tariffs and that these will ensure all foreign trade enterprises are able to access financial support and necessary loans with increased capital support.
"Capital replenishment work for large commercial banks is being accelerated...," Li said in explaining about the increased funding work.
"Different regions are also replenishing capital for small and medium-sized financial institutions through multiple channels.
At the same event, China Securities and Regulatory Commission chairman Wu Qing said that despite pressure from US tariffs, markets have stabilised following intervention efforts by the authorities.
Wu also noted that Beijing would continue to support state-owned investment company, Central Huijin, to further stabilise the A-share market, which he said is "currently undervalued" and has room for gains.
He added the country planned to help facilitate the return of foreign-listed Chinese firms to mainland and Hong Kong stock markets.
Separately, Wu singled out US investor Warren Buffett, who is set to retire this year, for mention for his fundamental principles of long-term value investing and rational investing, noting that such principles and efforts to reward investors will not end with the retirement of the investment legend.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTHK
38 minutes ago
- RTHK
China eyes stronger US cooperation at tariff talks
China eyes stronger US cooperation at tariff talks Spokesman Guo Jiakun says China-US ties should be developed on the basis of equality, respect and mutual benefit. Photo courtesy of Foreign Ministry website China said on Wednesday it will seek to strengthen cooperation with the United States at next week's trade talks in Stockholm. "On the basis of equality, respect and mutual benefit... we will enhance consensus, reduce misunderstandings, strengthen cooperation and promote the stable, healthy and sustainable development of Sino-US relations," Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday he would meet his Chinese counterparts in Stockholm next week for tariff talks, eyeing an extension to a mid-August deadline for levies to snap back to steeper levels. Bessent told Fox Business he will be speaking with Chinese officials in the Swedish capital on Monday and Tuesday for a third round of high-level negotiations, to work out what he said would be a likely postponement of the deadline. Washington and Beijing slapped escalating, tit-for-tat levies on each other's exports earlier this year, reaching triple-digit levels, stalling trade between the world's two biggest economies as tensions surged. But after top officials met in Geneva in May, both sides agreed to temporarily lower their tariff levels in a de-escalation set to expire next month. Officials from the two countries also met in London in June. "That deal expires on August 12, and I'm going to be in Stockholm on Monday and Tuesday with my Chinese counterparts, and we'll be working out what is likely an extension then," Bessent said in the interview. He noted that Washington also wanted to speak about a wider range of topics, potentially including Chinese purchases of Iranian and Russian oil. (AFP)
HKFP
2 hours ago
- HKFP
Chinese state hackers targeting Microsoft customers, US tech giant says
Chinese state-sponsored hackers are actively exploiting critical security vulnerabilities in users of Microsoft's popular SharePoint servers to steal sensitive data and deploy malicious code, the US tech giant warned Tuesday. Microsoft said it has observed three threat groups –- dubbed Linen Typhoon, Violet Typhoon, and Storm-2603 –- targeting internet-facing SharePoint servers using two newly disclosed vulnerabilities that allow attackers to bypass authentication and execute remote code. SharePoint Server is Microsoft's collaboration and document management platform designed for businesses and organizations. Many large organizations use SharePoint as their primary platform for internal collaboration and for storing documents, and is appreciated for working well with other Microsoft products like Office, Teams, and Outlook. The attacks, which Microsoft said began as early as July 7, affect only on-premises SharePoint installations and do not impact the cloud-based SharePoint Online service, the company said in a security bulletin. Microsoft warned that it 'assesses with high confidence' that the threat actors will continue their assault against vulnerable systems where companies haven't taken the necessary precautions. The vulnerabilities allow attackers to spoof authentication credentials and execute malicious code remotely on vulnerable servers. Microsoft has released comprehensive security updates to address the malware and urged customers to apply the patches immediately. In their successful attacks, the Chinese hackers deployed malicious code that provides backdoor access to compromised systems. The attackers used these tools to steal machine encryption keys and maintain access to targeted networks. Linen Typhoon, active since 2012, primarily focuses on intellectual property theft from government, defense, and human rights organizations. Violet Typhoon, operating since 2015, conducts espionage against former government officials, NGOs, think tanks, and media organizations across the United States, Europe, and East Asia. Storm-2603, which Microsoft assesses with 'medium confidence' to be China-based, has previously deployed ransomware but its current objectives remain unclear. Research from cybersecurity company Check Point said the campaign began on July 7 against a major Western government and that the attacks intensified dramatically around July 18. Since then, researchers have confirmed dozens of compromise attempts primarily targeting organizations in North America and Western Europe, Check Point said in a blog post.
RTHK
3 hours ago
- RTHK
Low-altitude economy rules 'must allow for taxi tests'
Low-altitude economy rules 'must allow for taxi tests' Lawmaker Chan Siu-hung, second left, says more relaxations of rules are needed so businesses can carry out trials on the transport of people and heavier cargo loads in the future. Photo: RTHK The Low Altitude Economy Association on Wednesday suggested 13 ways that the government can expand the development potential of the new industrial sector. One of its suggestions is for unmanned aircraft weighing more than 150 kilogrammes to come under regulatory oversight. The suggestion comes in the wake of amendments to the Small Unmanned Aircraft Order of the Civil Aviation Ordinance coming into effect on Friday that regulates such aerial vehicles weighing between 25 and 150 kilogrammes. Machines exceeding the 150 kilogramme limit will have to obtain permission from the Civil Aviation Department before they can take flight. Speaking for the association, lawmaker Chan Siu-hung said more relaxations were needed to enable businesses to perform trials on transporting humans and cargo. 'We must be mindful that you need to carry out a series of pilot runs or trial runs in order to collect sufficient data to assess safety implications as well as the risks associated with such a pilot," he said. "Rather than allow the carrying of real persons on the unmanned aerial vehicles, the government should think of allowing the carrying of dummies with the same size as well as similar weight for the purpose of trial runs," he added. Chan's association and legislative colleague Frankie Yick said the government should also develop more cross-border logistical routes through waterways despite high expectations for the low-altitude economic potential associated with the Northern Metropolis. 'At the end of the day, we will to have much more than one [flight] route," he said. "The Northern Metropolis is one of the places that we are talking about because it is close to the Shenzhen area, but how about other parts of the Guangdong area? "Or even in the future if we can, we can go even further to Guangxi, because we can fly [unmanned aircraft] all over the sea." Among the other suggestions are for a comprehensive training system to be instituted for those looking to use such aircraft and for a department to be set up specifically to promote the development of the low-altitude economy.
