Regulators:
Stock exchanges in China should take a more active role in regulating the stock market, Liu Shiyu, chair of China Securities Regulatory Commission, told a delegation of international stock exchanges representatives on August 25.
“Frankly, in the past, our stock exchanges haven’t played the role of frontline regulators enough,” said Liu. “The abnormal volatility in the stock market in 2015 clearly exposed this issue. We realised that the exchanges should not only be trading platforms, but powerful regulators as well.”
Mo Jiancheng, the official who led the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection’s (CCDI) investigation team at the Ministry of Finance, is under investigation for serious violation of party discipline by the CCDI, according to an August 27 statement by the watchdog. The CCDI did not give any more detail on the investigation.
RMBi :
The level of cross-border renminbi transaction activity rose in the second quarter, according to BOC. The bank’s cross-border RMB index reached 248 points in the period, which marked a 19 point rise from the end of 2016, and a jump of 15 points from the first quarter.
BOC attributed the rise to growth in cross-border renminbi-denominated trade, which totalled Rmb1.49tr ($223.3bn), an increase of Rmb65bn in capital outflows, and a 0.3% quarter-on-quarter uptick in the renminbi’s share in global payment.
Investment:
Wang Shouwen, Minister of Commerce, has rejected suggestions that foreign investors are held back from investing in China due to monopoly by state-owned enterprises (SOEs), following figures showing foreign direct investment (FDI) into China fell in the first seven months of 2017.
“After foreign investors are allowed to enter China, foreign enterprises and China’s state-owned and private enterprises are in an environment of fair competition,” Wang told a press conference on August 25. “The realms in which foreign investors are allowed to enter have been broadened… I don’t think the main obstacle for foreign investors coming into China is a monopoly by the SOEs or central SOEs.”
FX:
The PBoC’s renminbi fix against the dollar was 6.6353 this morning, 226bp stronger from Friday. The NEX CNH benchmark stood at 6.6608 at 4.31pm last Friday, up from 6.6588 on Thursday.
The dollar index closed at 92.74 on Friday, down 0.58% from Thursday, according to Bloomberg. The Thomson Reuters CNY reference index closed at 94.27 on Sunday, down 0.5% from its previous close.
The trade-weighted index by CFETS closed at 93.76 on August 25, down 0.06% from the previous week, with the BIS basket and special drawing rights basket at 94.49 and 94.76, down 0.1% and up 0.08%, respectively.
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