China's economic stimulus is still needed: Minister

BEIJING: China will stick to its stimulative policy stance because its economic recovery is still not on solid ground, Finance Minister Xie Xuren was quoted as saying by state media on Sunday.

Xie, in London for a meeting of G20 finance leaders, reiterated that China would continue the "active fiscal policy and appropriately loose monetary policy" adopted since last year in the face of the global financial crisis.

"The series of measures adopted by the Chinese government to promote economic growth have already achieved clear results," Xie was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua news agency.

"The economy is warming up and recovering, but its foundation is still not solid."

These expressions of cautious optimism have become stock phrases of the Chinese leadership over recent months, contrasting with some of the more bullish forecasts of economists.

On Saturday, Fan Gang, the academic member of the Chinese central bank's monetary policy committee, said that China's economic recovery was "V-shaped".

Fan said the government should maintain its stimulative stance until next year, when growth was back to normal.