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China targets stable, fast growth - central bank

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-07-28 07:44

BEIJING -- China's central bank said Sunday it would seek to create conditions for "relatively fast" economic growth in the coming months, despite the ongoing threat of inflation.

Photo shows a stack of 100 Yuan notes in Beijing. China's central bank said Sunday it would seek to create conditions for "relatively fast" economic growth in the coming months, despite the ongoing threat of inflation. [Agencies]

"We will use various monetary policy tools to create good conditions for stable, relatively fast growth," the bank said on its website, outlining policy decisions made at its first-quarter policy work meeting.

The central bank's statement came after recent figures suggested growth in China's economy -- the world's fourth-largest -- is beginning to slow.

China's economy expanded by 10.4 percent in the first half and 10.1 percent in the second quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said earlier this month, down from growth of 11.9 percent recorded for all of 2007.

The bank however warned that "the upward pressure on prices is clear."

China's consumer price index -- the main gauge of inflation -- rose 7.9 percent in the first half of 2008, with food prices soaring 20.4 percent, earlier data showed.

The central bank reiterated its pledge to improve its managed foreign exchange regime and increase the flexibility of the yuan exchange rate.