Premier calls for greater efforts on financial reforms

Premier Wen Jiabao has called on the government to push forward financial reforms.

During an inspection tour on Monday at the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, Wen said efforts should be made to advance the market-based reform of interest rates and improve the yuan exchange rate mechanism.

To gradually make the yuan convertible under the capital account, the government should also work to expand the use of the yuan in cross-border trade and investment, Wen said.

Cross-border capital flows are controlled in China, as its capital account is only partially convertible, which has acted as a technical barrier to the yuan becoming a global reserve currency.

The government has tried to ease capital controls, introducing reforms such as more flexible interest rates and the adoption of a wider floating band for the yuan against the US dollar.

Wen also urged government efforts to encourage market-oriented financial innovations and step up the development of private financial institutions.

To regulate underground private financing, in March last year the government set up a pilot financial reform zone in the eastern city of Wenzhou to encourage the participation of private capital in reforms of local financial institutions.

While warning of a complicated economic environment, the premier said the government should make its monetary policy play a key role in sustaining the economy's growth, stabilizing consumer prices and preventing financial risks.

- Xinhua

(China Daily 01/22/2013 page14)