China 'should open up capital account'

The validity of capital controls has been declining as financial opening up deepens and China needs to further open up its capital account by extending convertibility for certain transactions and individuals, said Chinese central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan on Tuesday.

"We should grasp the time window for further opening up the capital account and promoting the convertibility of the yuan by paying more attention to improving the convertibility of trade in capital markets and broadening the convertibility extent for individuals."

In addition, convertibility for direct financing, direct investment and extending credit should be further facilitated, while convertibility for transactions of derivative financial tools could be promoted under management.

He made the remarks while attending a forum in Beijing.

Promoting capital account convertibility matters interests all parties, therefore the authorities need to prudently deal with various stakeholders, Zhou said.

"We should also maintain the flexibility and pertinence of policies in accordance with domestic and global economic development, for example, by taking some special measures temporarily."

wangxiaotian@chinadaily.com.cn