Briefly

PBOC issues 5b yuan worth of bills in HK

China's central bank issued 5 billion yuan ($771.32 million) worth of bills in Hong Kong on Thursday. The bills will mature in six months, with the interest rates standing at 2.54 percent, according to the People's Bank of China. The issuance was well-received by investors in the offshore markets, with the total bid amount reaching about 27.6 billion yuan, more than 5.5 times the amount in circulation, the PBOC said. This reflects the strong attractiveness of renminbi assets for overseas investors, as well as the confidence of global investors in the Chinese economy, the PBOC said.

Profits of SOEs surge to $277b in Jan-May

Profit growth at China's State-owned enterprises stayed at an elevated level as the country's economic recovery continued to firm up, official data showed. The combined profits of SOEs surged 170 percent year-on-year to 1.79 trillion yuan ($277 billion) in the first five months of 2021, according to the Ministry of Finance. Average profit growth for the same period in 2019 and 2020 came in at 13.5 percent. During the January-May period, the profits of centrally administered SOEs rose 130 percent year-on-year to 1.25 trillion yuan.

Xinhua - China Daily