Monetary Policy and Bond Market - The People's Bank of China (PBOC) implemented a long-awaited easing policy by lowering the reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points and reducing the 7-day reverse repurchase rate by 10 basis points to 1.4% [1][7] - Following the announcement, the yield curve steepened due to market reactions, with the 2-year and 10-year Chinese government bond yield spread narrowing to 16 basis points, close to a ten-year low [10][1] - Bank of America anticipates further steepening of the yield curve due to increased supply of long-term bonds from special government bonds and favorable liquidity conditions, with the possibility of the PBOC restarting bond purchase operations [1][10] Foreign Exchange and Capital Flows - The net foreign exchange settlement balance for banks improved from -6.7 billion USD in February to 0.1 million USD in March, indicating a balanced supply and demand for USD [2][30] - The comprehensive net foreign exchange settlement amount reached 8.4 billion USD in March, marking the first positive value since October 2024 [4][33] - In March, the merchandise trade net foreign exchange settlement surplus increased from 16.7 billion USD in February to 25.5 billion USD, while the net foreign exchange settlement deficits for services and income remained stable [37][34] Bond Market Dynamics - The average rates for DR007 and R007 in April were 1.82% and 1.9%, respectively, indicating a further easing of the funding environment [7] - The PBOC has not conducted government bond transactions in the secondary market for four consecutive months, but is expected to engage in net bond purchases in the coming months to align with a large-scale bond issuance plan [16][19] - The net supply of government bonds decreased significantly in April compared to previous months, with a total net supply of approximately 4.85 trillion RMB, which is 35% of the annual issuance estimate [21][19]