The Chinese mainland had foreign exchange reserves of US$179 billion at the end of May, the People's Daily quoted central bank governor Dai Xianglong Tuesday as saying.
At the end of March, the reserves were US$175.85 billion, up from US$165.57 billion at the end of 2000, according to earlier official figures.
"The renminbi's exchange rate continues to remain stable," the newspaper quoted Dai as telling a meeting of the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) in Basel, Switzerland, in reference to the Chinese currency, which is also called the yuan.
The central bank generally keeps the yuan exchange rate in a tight range, intervening if necessary.
But officials say the central bank is considering a wider range for the yuan's exchange rate to cushion trade shocks expected after China joins the World Trade Organization. But they have given no timetable or range.
"The US economic slowdown will have a negative impact on China's economic growth," Dai was quoted as saying.
But he said the impact would be limited because China's exports to developed countries mainly consist of consumer goods, such as garments.
China's exports grew a year-on-year 13.2 percent in the first four months of this year, far off the blistering 27.8 percent pace of 2000. Dai predicted that China's economic growth would be around 7.5 percent this year compared with 8 percent last year.
A series of US rate cuts have reduced the cost for China's fund-raising activities overseas while the narrowing spread between interest rates on dollar- and yuan-denominated deposits would help curb capital flight from China, he said.
China would push forward its banking reforms and implement a "prudent accounting system" to help financial institutions ward off potential risks, he said.
"There has been a declining trend in the non-performing loan ratios in China's banking sector," Dai said.
(China Daily HK Edition 06/13/2001)
