BEIJING, March 13 -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Thursday that the authorities had set a timetable for implementing the Basel III accord in tightening regulative measures over shadow banking.

"Concerning financial risks such as shadow banking, we are tightening regulation and have set a timetable for implementing the regulative measures under the Basel III accord," Li said.

He made the remarks at a press conference shortly after the conclusion of China's annual legislative session.

As to whether China has set too high capital adequacy ratios for banks, Li said, "We are a developing country, but this is what we have to do, and we cannot let today's stepping stone become tomorrow's stumbling stone."

"It is indeed difficult to avoid a few individual cases, and we must tighten monitoring and deal with the problems timely to make sure regional and systemic financial risks do not occur," he added.