China leaders vow to keep growth steady, push reforms

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's top leaders pledged on Tuesday to keep economic growth steady in the second half of the year, while creating favourable conditions for supply-side reforms, state media reported. The government will use a combination of policies to "strive to maintain stable economic development trends", the Xinhua news agency said, citing a meeting of the Politburo, a top decision-making body of the ruling Communist Party. "The downward pressure on the economy is still relatively large and we must attach great importance to some potential risks,” Xinhua cited those at the meeting as saying. The world's second-largest economy grew by 6.7 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, steady from the first quarter but still the slowest pace since the global financial crisis. China aims for annual growth of 6.5-7 percent in 2016. The government will be flexible in adjusting polices to help create a favourable environment for supply-side structural reforms, Xinhua cited the meeting, chaired by President Xi Jinping, as saying. Authorities will continue to implement a proactive fiscal policy and a prudent monetary policy, Xinhua said. Reforming state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and the financial sector will be vital for cutting overcapacity and debt levels, it said, adding that the government would improve policy transparency and stabilise market expectations. China will keep the yuan exchange rate basically stable, and will also guide reasonable growth in credit and social financing, Xinhua said. (Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk and Kevin Yao; Editing by Kim Coghill, Robert Birsel)