Chinese goods anchor of stability amid global inflation

Photo taken on Sept. 30, 2020 shows the street view of the Lujiazui area of Pudong, east China's Shanghai. (Xinhua/Wang Xiang)

SHANGHAI, June 11 (Xinhua) -- If the large amount of money pumped by the most developed countries is a driving force of global inflation, products manufactured in China serve as an "anchor" to stabilize the price rises, according to a senior banking official.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, China managed to provide roughly half of the world's final products for a considerable period with generally no increases in free onboard prices of exports. It laid a solid foundation for global virus prevention and economic recovery, said Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, via a video link at the 13th Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai.

Unlike some developed countries, China avoided using a "deluge" of stimulus policies when strengthening macroeconomic policy adjustment, Guo noted.

The country unveiled a slew of targeted monetary and fiscal policies to resolve the pandemic-induced economic fallout, including reducing taxes and fees, lowering lending rates, and issuing special treasury bonds.

Last year, China's financial institutions saved the real economy 1.5 trillion yuan (about 234.48 billion U.S. dollars), while tax and fee reduction for enterprises and residents surpassed 2.5 trillion yuan.

China's banking institutions issued new loans worth 19.6 trillion yuan in 2020, up by 12.8 percent year on year.

"More importantly, our COVID-19 response policies have led to fairly good results," Guo said.

To deal with the shocks of the COVID-19 outbreak, some developed countries rolled out drastic stimulus policies with fast fiscal expansion and unprecedented liquidity easing.

These policies may help stabilize the market in the short term, but their side effects, including surging financial asset and property prices, befell all countries, Guo noted.

During the speech, Guo also called for continuous efforts in forestalling China's financial risks.

Efforts should focus on addressing non-performing assets, regulating shadow banking, and fending off investment risks of financial derivatives.