The mainland's former banking chief has called the US Federal Reserve's third round of quantitative easing "irresponsible," while an official at the same regulator said the stimulus won't provide sustained support to the US economy. "It's irresponsible to the US, and also to us," Liu Mingkang, the former chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, said at a conference in Beijing. He declined to elaborate. Liu's comments were the latest from China warning of risks from the US stimulus programme, which drove commodity prices higher and spurred stocks to the highest levels since 2007. The US move was more likely to boost growth for a limited time than provide longer-term support, Yan Qingmin, assistant chairman of the CBRC, said yesterday. The latest move was largely a result of "political considerations" ahead of the US presidential election, Yan said. The US goes to the polls on November 6. Yan's comments echoed a front-page editorial in an official newspaper yesterday that said global capital markets shouldn't have overly high expectations from the latest round of easing. Bloomberg
Annual economic growth will reach between 7.7 per cent and 7.8 per cent this year and begin to stabilise as pro-growth policies gain traction, a mainland government researcher said in remarks published yesterday. Fan Jianping, chief economist at the State Information Centre, said China's economy would grow 7.6-7.8 per cent in the July-September quarter from a year earlier, staying flat or picking up from the second quarter's 7.6 per cent. The pace of growth this year would be above the government's target of 7.5 per cent, but policymakers face a dilemma due to concerns about property inflation, Xinhua quoted Fan as saying. "It will be a bit difficult to strike a balance this time," Fan said. Reuters
Seven people were killed and 10 others injured after a truck collided with a tractor in Hebei province yesterday. The accident occurred when the truck crashed head-on into the tractor on the other side of the road while overtaking other vehicles in Longhua county in the city of Chengde, the city government said. The truck driver was arrested. Xinhua