China pledges more global help amid financial turmoil

"As we face this international financial crisis... the international community should remain confident and work together to overcome these difficulties,"

CHINA: China pledged on Thursday to cooperate further with the rest of the world on fixing the financial crisis, a day after taking part in a global round of interest rate cuts.

China's central bank Wednesday cut interest rates with the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and counterparts in Britain, Canada, Sweden and Switzerland in response to the global financial turmoil and fears of a domestic slowdown.

"As we face this international financial crisis... the international community should remain confident and work together to overcome these difficulties," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said.

"We would like to continue to strengthen coordination and cooperation with other countries to jointly safeguard the stability of international financial markets and the healthy and sound development of the economy." Qin said China's central bank and other financial authorities remained in close contact with their counterparts in other nations but did not elaborate on the extent of the contacts. He said that to cope with the financial crisis, China would first "take measures beneficial to the steady development of China's economy at a relatively fast pace.

Qin said the global situation was exerting pressure on the Chinese currency, the yuan, to appreciate, but Beijing would first consider impacts on its domestic economy before making any policy changes in this regard.

Qin was commenting on a report by the International Monetary Fund Wednesday that said the yuan was undervalued and that greater appreciation would help Beijing stimulate domestic demand and balance current global imbalances.

Beijing, Thursday, AFP