China is not deliberately pursuing expansion of its foreign exchange reserves
or any particular level of reserves, a vice head of the central bank said in
comments published on Wednesday.
Wu Xiaoling, vice
governor of the People's Bank of China. [newsphoto
file] |
China's forex reserves amounted to
US$853.6 billion at the end of February, exceeding Japan for the first time to
become the biggest forex reserves in the world. Japan's forex reserves
stood at $850.1 billion at the end of February.
Wu Xiaoling, vice governor of the People's Bank of China or the central
bank, said an excessive trade surplus, the source of much of China's
reserves, was not desirable and needed to be addressed through policies,
according to a Xinhua report.
"Deficit in balance of payment is not good, but an excessive amount of
surplus is not favorable, either," she said, adding adjustments in economic
structure are needed to deal with the surplus issue.
Any rise or drop of a country's foreign exchange reserves ultimately reflects
its macro economic performance and its international balance of payment, and
there is no scientific way to measure what is the most appropriate amount of
forex reserves, she said.
Officials have previously disavowed any desire for larger reserves or an
enormous trade surplus.
The central bank was looking to increase access for individuals and
corporations to the foreign exchange trade to make it less dominated by the
government, she said.
Measures to increase the holdings of foreign exchange by individuals and
corporations include: lifting control over enterprises in opening foreign
exchange accounts, increasing the limit for individuals to purchase foreign
exchange under the current account, and loosening restrictions on
enterprises to make investments overseas and their use of foreign exchange under
the capital account, Wu said.