China's central bank to improve 'twin pillar' policy framework

BEIJING - China's central bank will continue to improve its policy framework, which involves the use of both monetary tools and macro-prudential regulation to address risks while supporting growth, according to an official report.

While traditional monetary policy can address instability during economic cycles, it alone cannot deal with fluctuations during financial cycles, and that's where macro-prudential regulation comes in, the People's Bank of China said in its third-quarter monetary policy implementation report.

The combined policies make up the "twin pillar" framework that the central bank will continue to improve.

In a bid to address overall financial risks, the central bank has already widened its macro-prudential assessment framework this year to include off-balance-sheet wealth management products and planned to include a debt instrument called negotiable certificates of deposits in 2018.

More financial activities, markets, institutions and infrastructure will be covered by the macro-prudential policy framework, the report said.