China says ‘extraordinary’ coronavirus stimulus policies from US, Europe have ramped up global inflation risks

Guo Shuqing, party chief of the People’s Bank of China, says consequences of US and European stimulus policies being felt worldwide

Despite a short-term rise in global inflation, central bank governor Yi Gang says consumer prices in China are basically under control

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Guo Shuqing, party chief of the People’s Bank of China, says the consequences of US and European stimulus policies are being felt worldwide. Photo: Simon Song

Published: 6:17pm, 10 Jun 2021Updated: 10:27am, 9 Jul 2021

China’s financial regulators have again raised concerns about the potential side effects of massive economic stimulus in the West, while calling for the removal of tariffs on Chinese goods to help tame global inflation.

Speaking at a financial forum in Shanghai on Thursday, senior central bank officials also said inflation did not pose a big threat to the world’s second-largest economy, and monetary policy would be kept steady.

The criticism of Western stimulus policy comes at a delicate time for Beijing, as it resumes high-level trade talks with Washington in an effort to reset deteriorating political and economic relations between the two nations.

Guo Shuqing, party chief of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, said inflation arrived immediately after the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank began buying assets to cushion the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Those extraordinary measures played a role in stabilising market and investor confidence in the short-term

Guo Shuqing

“Those extraordinary measures played a role in stabilising market and investor confidence in the short-term,” Guo said via video link at the Lujiazui Forum.