NPC Headlines: No Hard Landing for China, Xi in Shanghai, PBOC Discusses Reserve Holdings

Reuters: China says economy will 'absolutely not' experience hard landing

China's economy isn't headed for a hard landing and isn't dragging on the global economy, China's top economic planner said on Sunday, but uncertainty and instability in the global economy do pose a risk to the country's growth.

There is an argument to be made that China isn't the source of the economic slowdown, but that argument also says we are in the midst of a global depression. In which case, China's economy isn't going to stop slowing and it can't reform its way out of the problem.

"China will absolutely not experience a hard landing," Xu Shaoshi, head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), told reporters at a briefing. "These predictions of a hard landing are destined to come to nothing."

If the bet is predictions of a hard landing come to nothing or actual GDP growth slows to zero, I take the latter.

Xinhua: President Xi says Shanghai can "pioneer" reform, innovation

President Xi Jinping said Shanghai should continue to serve as a vanguard and pioneer in reform and innovation when talking to lawmakers from the coastal city Saturday.

Xi made the remarks when he joined a meeting of Shanghai deputies, who were deliberating the government's work report, at the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress.

Bloomberg:
PBOC's Yi Reveals Some Non-Dollar Reserves in Transparency Bid

Foreign exchange reserves held by the People’s Bank of China include the euro, yen, pound and developing nations’ assets, in addition to U.S. dollars, Deputy Governor Yi Gang said at a news briefing in Beijing on Sunday. He did not disclose amounts of holdings in the currencies.

The stockpile is “fully diversified” and the allocation of assets is optimized for trades, overseas investment and payments, he said.

...The stockpile will stay at a "reasonable level," but a further decline wouldn’t be surprising, Yi said.