Chinese mainland stock markets will continue to be bullish ahead
of the Beijing Olympic Games next year, a senior law maker said
today.
The country's stock market will stage a “slow bull'' performance
before the Olympics in August, said Cheng Siwei, vice chairman of
the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, in a
speech delivered at Fudan University this morning.
The central bank should increase benchmark deposit rates while
keeping lending rates unchanged next year in a move to reduce the
momentum for lenders to extend loans and boost returns over
savings, Cheng said.
Shrinking the interest margins for commercial lenders will also
prompt them to diversify into more innovative businesses to shore
up profits, according to Cheng.
The combined stock-market capitalization on China's mainland is
expected to reach 60 trillion yuan (US$8.1 trillion) by 2020, Cheng
said. The total market value in Shanghai and Shenzhen was 30.2
trillion yuan as of yesterday.
(Shanghai Daily December 6, 2007)
