More work should be done to deepen financial reform with the aim of supporting the real economy and easing the increasing reliance of companies on leveraging, Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, said on Sunday.
In the contemporary capital market, the debt-to-GDP ratio is "too high," which has attracted much attention from the public, Zhou said during a forum on Sunday, domestic news portal qq.com reported.
"One way is to further encourage equity investment to reduce companies' reliance on debt," Zhou noted, according to the report.
A nation's saving rate is usually around 20 percent to 30 percent of GDP, while Chinese households socked away more than 35 percent in 2015, said Zhou.
High saving rates give enterprises access to financing methods such as bond issues, which may lead to high corporate liabilities, he noted.
Meanwhile, the nation's equity market has been developing since 1990, which is a relatively short period, and raising funds through investing in equity is a less developed channel.
High liabilities are likely to generate risks, Zhou said, noting that one way to fend off those risks is to further boost equity market development.
During the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), China should focus on reforms to diversify financial services, improve its monetary mechanism, strengthen financial regulations and ensure the capital market will support the development of the real economy, Zhou said.
Zhou also addressed the issue of managing a floating exchange rate, qq.com reported on Sunday. Besides considering market supply and demand, "the PBC will probably refer to the [IMF's Special Drawing Rights] in the future to manage the exchange rate in a reasonable range," he said.
