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Central banker: Economic prospect complicated by world slowdown

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-10-26 18:02

China's economy was on sound track but prospects were complicated by the world economic slowdown, said Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of China's central bank, on Sunday.

In a report Zhou made to the fifth session of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC), he said the country's economy was developing as expected, but the world economic slowdown added uncertainties to its prospect.

"Our economy is highly reliant on overseas demand. Slacking exports resulted from the global economic slowdown would have a negative impact on the economy," he said.

He said the country needed to be cautious on adjusting policies because prices would possibly fluctuate frequently in the future.

The central bank would strengthen the supervision system and make advanced emergency programs to deal with possible negative impact on the country's banking system. It would also work to keep a sufficient credit supply on the domestic market.

He also said the central bank would keep a close look over the real estate sector and improve financial services in this market.

The central bank would let the market "play a bigger role" in deciding interest rates and keep the exchange rates stable. Meanwhile, it would step up supervision over cross-border capital flows to prevent damages caused by short-term massive flows of speculative capital, he added.

The fifth session of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC) opened its second plenary meeting Sunday morning. Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the NPC, attended the meeting.