China’s Top Financial News Headlines for 26 April, 2023
Key headlines in China's financial news media for 26 April, 2023
Unified Real Estate Registration System Fully Implemented and Effective (People’s Daily)
“According to the National Conference on Natural Resources and Real Estate Rights Registration, since the establishment and implementation of China’s unified real estate registration system ten years ago, more than 790 million real estate certificates and over 360 million real estate registration certificates have been issued, along with more than 330 million electronic certificates. Currently, there are around 3,000 main offices, 40,000 outlets, and 100,000 registration staff nationwide, providing various registration services to 400,000 people and businesses each day.”
Gold Consumption in First Quarter Rises 12.03% Year-on-Year (People’s Daily)
“According to statistics released by the China Gold Association on 26 April, national gold consumption in the first quarter was 291.58 tons, for an increase of 12.03% compared to the same period last year. This included gold jewelry consumption of 189.61 tons, for an increase of 12.29% year-on-year, while gold bars and coins consumption was 83.87 tons, for an increase of 20.47% year-on-year.”
China Securities Regulatory Commission: Promote Normalized Issuance and Accelerate the High-Quality Development of REITs Market (Sina)
“‘Since the launch of REIT trials three years, an in particular since the transition to normalized issuance, asset types have steadily expanded, the basic system has developed at an accelerated pace, the regulatory framework has been basically established, and the overall market operation has been stable, gradually paving the way for a development path of REITs with Chinese characteristics,’ said Zhou Xiaozhou, director of the Bond Department of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), at the 2023 Infrastructure REITs Industry Development Conference in Beijing on April 25th. The next step will be for CSRC to use the promotion of normalized issuance as the starting point to accelerate the high-quality development of the REITs market.”
The Central Bank Increases “irrigation” Efforts, Liquidity Remains Stable During Monthly Transition (China Securities Journal)
“On April 25, the People’s Bank of China carried out a 170 billion yuan 7-day reverse repo operation through interest rate bidding, for the highest daily injection since April. As 38 billion yuan of reverse repos expired that day, open market operations achieved a net injection of 132 billion yuan. Experts believe that in order to maintain stable end-of-month liquidity, the central bank has increased the intensity of open market reverse repo injections in recent days. The central bank will continue to flexibly carry out open market operations to keep market interest rates and liquidity at a reasonable level.”
Ping An Bank’s Q1 Report: Net Profit of 14.602 Billion Yuan, a Year-on-Year Increase of 13.6% (National Business Daily)
“On the evening of 24 April, Ping An Bank released its 2023 first quarter performance report. During the reporting period, the bank achieved operating income of 45.098 billion yuan, for a year-on-year decrease of 2.4%, and net profits of 14.602 billion yuan, for a year-on-year increase of 13.6%. As of the end of March, total assets were 5.455897 trillion yuan, for a year-on-year increase of 2.5%. Total liabilities were 5.009152 trillion yuan, for a year-on-year increase of 2.5%, of which the principal balance of deposits was 3.469238 trillion yuan, for a year-on-year increase of 4.7%.”
Lei Yao, Deputy Director of the Financial Research Institute of the People’s Bank of China: Exploring Carbon Accounting for Financial Institutions (Cebnet)
“Recently, at the first China Carbon Finance Forum, Lei Yao, deputy director of the Financial Research Institute of the People’s Bank of China, delivered a speech on China’s experience in the development of green finance and the path towards supporting the ‘twin-carbon’ goals of green finance in the future.
“‘While green finance is developing rapidly, it has avoided market distortions that may be caused by excessive use of non-price incentive tools, has greatly reduced regulatory conflict, regulatory costs and compliance costs, and has not led to obvious greenwashing or green fraud phenomena,’ Lei said.”
Zheshang Bank’s Net Profit Attributable to Shareholders Increased by 9.91% in First Quarter; Board Elects Lu Jianqiang as Chairman (21st Century Business Herald)
“On 25 April, Zhejiang Commercial Bank released its Q1 report, indicating that as of the end of March, the bank’s total assets were 2.7469 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.77% compared to the end of last year. Loans amounted to 1.5947 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.57% compared to the end of last year, and deposits amounted to 1.7100 trillion yuan, for an increase of 1.70% compared to the end of last year.
“In terms of performance, Zhejiang Commercial Bank achieved operating income of 15.78 billion yuan in the first quarter, for an increase of 2.53% year-on-year. The net profit attributable to the shareholders of the listed company was 5.625 billion yuan, for an increase of 9.91% year-on-year.”