Wen warns of economic difficulties

BEIJING, July 5 (UPI) -- China will maintain its macro economic policies despite mounting difficulties arising from the global financial crisis, Premier Wen Jiabao said.

Speaking at a weekend symposium in Changsha, capital of China's central Hunan province, Wen warned about the unpredictable nature of the global economic recovery and its impact on China, Xinhua news agency reported.

"China's current economy remains good, but the domestic and international environment is extremely complicated," Wen said.

Wen stressed the government's stance in continuing its macro economic policies, noting the government would "work to promote stable and relatively fast domestic economic growth, restructure the economy and manage inflation expectations to ensure the government's goals for 2010 are met," Xinhua reported.

The government is seeking to promote greater domestic consumption to reduce the country's reliance on exports as Europe, China's major export market, is threatened by another recession. Despite these difficulties, however, China's economy continues to grow at a rapid pace, but inflation remains a concern.

China's economy grew more than 9 percent last year per revised numbers. Its gross domestic product soared 11.9 percent in the first quarter of this year from the same period of last year.

However, second-quarter growth may have slowed because of the government's stimulus and other tightening steps. The government also recently allowed the exchange rate of the yuan to rise against the U.S. dollar.