BEIJING (MNI) - The People's Bank of China announced that it will sell CNY17 billion in three month bills on Thursday as part of its open market operations.

The PBOC will also sell CNY100 billion in three-year note on Thursday.

People's Bank of China open market operations:

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BEIJING (MNI) - The Chinese banking regulator has acknowledged the systemic risk posed by the country's lenders, urging them to tighten up risk controls.

The statement from Liu Mingkang, who is director of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, gave no indication that his agency believes risk has risen although it was making a general call for an improvement in banking standards.

"The potential outbreak of systemic bank risk shouldn't be ignored... bank liquidity management is also weak," Liu told commercial bank executives in a meeting.

XIAMEN, Fujian Province (MNI) - There are no signals suggesting sharp yuan volatility, Minister of Commerce Chen Deming told reporters here today.

"I haven't seen any signs of large-scale volatility," he said.

Chen also said that the forces of supply and demand will decide the exchange rate. He said that China will continue to reform the exchange rate formation mechanism.

"We need to maintain economic stability and currency stability," he said.

BEIJING (MNI) - The People's Bank of China set the yuan's central parity rate at 6.7907 to the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, lower than the previous trading day's central parity of 6.7799.

Today's parity was set below the record high of 6.7685 on Aug.9.

The yuan finished at 6.7914 against the U.S. dollar on the over-the-counter (OTC) market Tuesday, lower than Monday's close of 6.7874.

All figures year-over-year percent changes unless otherwise specified.

BEIJING (MNI) - China's "big four" state-owned banks extended a combined CNY218.8 billion in new loans in August, Caing.com website reported, citing banking industry figures.

Lending by the "big four" -- Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Agricultural Bank of China -- normally accounts for around half of total new loans.

BEIJING (MNI) - Chinese industrial output growth is expected to slow to around 10% in the second half of this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said Tuesday.

The ministry earlier forecast 13% growth for industrial production this year but said that the pace of growth could slow to around 10% in the second half. Chinese industrial production growth rose 17.0% y/y during the first seven months of 2010.

The central government has targeted 11% growth for industrial production this year.

BEIJING (MNI) - Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping defended China's status as a favorable destination for foreign investment Tuesday, saying his government will continue to work to make life easier for overseas companies operating here.

Xi, who is mooted to take over from Hu Jintao as President in 2013, told an investment conference here that the Chinese government has been working to develop a market based on fair competition and will continue to do so.