Risks in China's economy controllable: Senior official

BEIJING - Risks in major areas of the Chinese economy are controllable overall, a senior official with the country's top economic planner said Tuesday.

China has improved regulation to maintain stability in the fiscal, financial and real estate sectors, said He Lifeng, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, at a five-day bimonthly session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee that opened Monday.

Irrational outbound investment has been contained, He said when briefing lawmakers on a State Council report about the implementation of the national economic and social development plan so far this year.

Fiscal revenue and expenditure in the first seven months rose 10 percent and 14.5 percent year on year, respectively, both increasing faster than the annual target rates.

A reform that has replaced business tax with value-added tax went smoothly, while debt financing by local governments has been better regulated, He said.

Financial risks are also controllable, with neutral and moderate inter-bank liquidity and relatively fast growth of loans to the real economy, He told lawmakers.

Regulation has been strengthened in the financial market, he noted.

The yuan's exchange rate has been stable overall, while the currency has seen modest appreciation against the US dollar, according to He.

Real estate curbs have started to work, leading to steady declines in property transactions in major cities and slower year-on-year growth in new home prices in July, he said.