Payment firms

THE central bank said Friday payment firms will be required to deposit 100 percent of their total client funds with a central custodian by Jan. 14, 2019, marking the latest step to tighten supervision for third-party payment firms.

The People’s Bank of China said the measure was part of a broader effort to crack down on financial risk. It has already raised the reserve funds ratio of third-party payment firms to 50 percent in April from 20 percent previously.

SME services plan

CENTRAL bank Governor Yi Gang asked commercial banks to report their financial services plan for smaller firms to the central bank and banking sector regulator, starting in the third quarter, media reports said Friday.

The People’s Bank of China said earlier in the day it will expand coverage and increase credit supply for smaller firms.

South Korea firms

PREMIER Li Keqiang said Friday he welcomes South Korean firms to expand investment in China for major projects, especially in the electronics sector, media reports said.

The reports said Li met with executives of South Korean firms including Samsung Electronics Co., Hyundai Motor Co. and SK Holdings Co. During the meeting, Li also called on South Korea to work with China in order to safeguard multilateralism and the free trade system.

Monetary easing

THE government cannot rely on monetary policy easing to resolve its structural problems, the central bank’s chief researcher said in an opinion column Friday.

Xu Zhong also said fiscal policy should play a bigger role in China’s deleveraging process, and the country should roll out a property tax to reduce local governments’ reliance on land sales for revenue.