China to improve central bank system, promote high-quality financial development: PBOC governor

BEIJING - China will move faster to improve its central bank system and promote high-quality financial development, the country's central bank governor has said.

China will concentrate on improving the twin-pillar regulatory framework of monetary policy and macro-prudential policy to maintain the stability of both currency value and the country's financial system, Pan Gongsheng, governor and Party chief of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

To this end, China will gradually shift away from a focus on quantitative targets, place greater emphasis on the use of price-based tools such as interest rates, and enrich its monetary policy toolkit, Pan said.

Efforts will be made to boost policy communication, enhance policy transparency, improve the mechanism for forestalling and defusing systemic risks, strengthen the financial market and its infrastructure, and build a higher-standard open financial system, he said.

The PBOC will promote high-standard financial opening-up with a market-oriented, law-based and internationalized approach, increasing the transparency, stability and predictability of relevant policies, the governor noted.

He said that China will deepen institutional opening-up in the financial sector, steadily and prudently advance the internationalization of the yuan, advance the development of international financial centers, create a more friendly and inclusive business environment, and strive to ensure both financial openness and security.

For the real economy, Pan said the central bank will adhere to a supportive monetary policy and intensify counter-cyclical and cross-cyclical adjustments to stabilize expectations and help consolidate the country's economic recovery trend.

In its regulation of monetary policy, the central bank will focus efforts on striking a balance between short-term and long-term objectives, between growth stabilization and risk prevention, and between domestic demand and external conditions, Pan told Xinhua.

He said that next, the PBOC will move to implement already-introduced policies and measures, develop additional policy tools and enhance policy coordination to meet annual economic and social development goals, and develop technology finance, green finance, inclusive finance, pension finance and digital finance.

He also pledged resolute work to prevent the emergence of systemic risks by balancing economic growth, structural adjustments and risk prevention, increasing the efficacy of financial regulation, advancing legislation on financial stability, and resolving risks in areas such as local government debt, real estate, and small and medium-sized banks.