India In-Focus — HDFC Bank’s Q2 profit soars; Crop planting ramps up in India; Israel sells Haifa Port to Adani Ports and Gadot for $1.2bn

BEIJING: China’s monetary policy has ample room and sufficient tools, including further cutting banks’ reserve requirements, to cope with new challenges amid a shaky economic recovery, a commentary in the state-owned Securities Times said on Sunday.

China’s economy only grew by 0.4 percent in the second quarter compared to the same period last year, down sharply from 4.8 percent growth for the first three months, the government said on Friday, as widespread lockdowns to extinguish outbreaks of COVID-19 hobbled the world’s second-largest economy.

While June data showed signs of improvement, analysts do not expect a rapid recovery as China sticks to its tough zero-COVID policy, the country’s property market is in a deep slump and the global outlook is darkening.

“Looking out to the second half of the year, the foundation of our economic rebound is still not solid and economic operations still face many uncertain and unstable factors,” the commentary said.

“In terms of coping with new challenges and changes that may exceed expectations, monetary policy has sufficient space and ample tools.”

China to step up implementation of ‘prudent’ monetary policy

China’s economy is facing downward pressure due to COVID-19 and external shocks, and the central bank will “increase implementation of prudent monetary policy” to support the real economy, China’s central bank Governor Yi Gang said.

Yi made the comments via video link during the meeting of G20 finance leaders in Indonesia, the People’s Bank of China said in a statement on Saturday.

During the G20 finance meetings in Bali, Finance Minister Liu Kun said by video link that China will donate $50 million to a new pandemic prevention and response fund being set up by the World Bank.

TikTok’s global security chief to step down

Beijing-based TikTok’s global chief security officer Roland Cloutier, who oversees cybersecurity, is stepping down from his role but will stay at the company, according to a memo on the platform’s website.

Cloutier, who is based in Florida, said his move followed recent changes to the security teams at the video-sharing app, which is owned by China’s ByteDance and is facing growing scrutiny from US regulators about the use of personal data.

“With our recent announcement about data management changes in the US, it’s time for me to transition from my role as Global Chief Security Officer into a strategic advisory role focusing on the business impact of security and trust programs, working directly with CEO Shou, ByteDance VP of Technology Dingkun and other senior leaders,” Cloutier wrote in the memo.

(With input from Reuters)