A top adviser to Chinese president Xi Jinping has conceded poor communication contributed to global market anxiety over China’s falling currency, as he tried to reassure investors that Beijing is not pursuing competitive devaluation.
“Our system is not structured in a way to communicate seamlessly with the markets,” Fang Xinghai, vice-chairman of China’s securities regulator and a member of a key financial policy committee, told an audience in Davos. “You bet we can learn.”
Mr Fang sought to counter concern that China is responding to a domestic economic slowdown by pushing the renminbi weaker. Fears of sharp depreciation have fuelled unprecedented capital outflows from China in recent months and are also blamed for sparking a global equity sell-off.