PBOC wants a 'healthy' stock market

Beijing

CHINA'S central bank said on Friday that it wants to see a "healthy" stock market, a day after surging Chinese shares slumped 6 per cent in record trading volume as investors fled tighter borrowing rules. In its 2015 financial stability report, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) warned of a slowing economy and rising debt levels, but repeated its vow to deepen China's nascent financial market through reforms. The PBOC said in the report released online that it was monitoring widely-recognised financial risks in the world's second-biggest economy, including heavily-indebted local governments and a slowing real estate market.

It did not address the dangers of China's soaring shares, saying only that it wishes to promote a "stable" bourse. Chinese stocks have zoomed up 140 per cent in the last 12 months. The PBOC said there are plans to set up a new board on the Shanghai stock exchange.