STORY: China unveils fresh stimulus to boost high-quality economic development
SHOOTING TIME: Sept. 24, 2024
DATELINE: Sept. 24, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:06
LOCATION: Beijing
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the press conference

STORYLINE:

China's central bank, top securities regulator and financial regulator on Tuesday announced at a press conference a raft of monetary stimulus, property market support and capital market strengthening measures to boost the country's high-quality economic development.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): PAN GONGSHENG, Governor of the People's Bank of China
"China would cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) by 0.5 percentage points in the near future, providing about 1 trillion yuan (about 141.82 billion U.S. dollars) in long-term liquidity to the financial market. Depending on the liquidity situation in the market, RRR may be further lowered by 0.25 to 0.5 percentage points within the year."

The governor said that the central bank will also reduce the interest rate of seven-day reverse repurchases from 1.7 percent to 1.5 percent.

He said the reduction was aimed at guiding the loan prime rate and deposit rate to move downward and maintaining stability in the net interest margin of commercial banks.

Mortgage rate cuts were also announced at the press conference.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): PAN GONGSHENG, Governor of the People's Bank of China
"China will lower mortgage rates on existing home loans to a level similar to those of newly issued housing loans. The average reduction in mortgage rates for existing home loans is expected to be around 0.5 percentage points. The minimum down payment ratio for both first and second homes will be unified, with the nationwide minimum down payment ratio for second homes to be reduced from 25 percent to 15 percent."

This move is expected to reduce the total interest expenses for households by approximately 150 billion yuan per year on average, which will help boost consumption and investment, he added.

Moreover, the central bank will create new monetary policy tools to support the stable development of the stock market, said Pan.

SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): PAN GONGSHENG, Governor of the People's Bank of China
"The central bank will create new monetary policy tools to support the stable development of the stock market. The central bank will establish a swap program for securities, funds and insurance companies to obtain liquidity from the central bank through asset collateralization. The program will significantly enhance companies' ability to acquire funds and increase their stock holdings. The central bank will also create a special re-lending facility to guide banks to provide loans to listed companies and their major shareholders for buybacks and increasing shareholdings."

China's major stock indices surged following the release of the policies and measures, with the Shanghai Composite Index and the Shenzhen Component Index both closing with an increase of more than 4 percent.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Beijing. 
(XHTV)