The bank has submitted a proposal to shift the government's strategy on currency reserves to "foreign exchange held by the people," the official Xinhua News Agency quoted Wu Xiaoling, a deputy bank governor, as saying Wednesday.

"The proposal means to relax the policies of foreign currency in order to boost the amount of foreign currency held by individuals," she was quoted as saying.

The reports didn't say when the change might take effect or give details of how it would affect businesses or individuals.

China requires its companies to sell to the government most of the foreign currency that they earn abroad, and travelers are allowed to take only a small amount of foreign exchange out of the country.

A state newspaper reported last month that China's reserves of foreign currency have reached $853.7 billion, the biggest in the world.

China is under pressure from the United States and other trading partners to ease controls that they say keep the country's currency, the yuan, undervalued and give Chinese exporters an unfair price advantage at the expense of foreign competitors.

The currency controls have forced China's government to pile up huge foreign exchange reserves to control the export-fueled flood of money into the country and reduce inflationary pressure.

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