China policymakers bullish on economy

Policymakers in China are pushing a bullish message on the world's second-biggest economy after a solid first quarter, pointing to a slow-down in capital outflows and a stable yuan after a selloff last year stoked fears of instability.

Speaking at a G20 summit meeting of the world's top economies in Washington last week, finance minister Xiao Jie said an increasing number of positive signs were seen in the Chinese economy in the first quarter gross domestic product report.

China is confident of reaching the government's 6.5 percent GDP growth target this year, Xiao said in a notice published on the Ministry of Finance's website on Saturday.

Separately, People's Bank of China (PBOC) adviser Sheng Songcheng said the improving economy has been matched by a stable yuan, with signs that capital is starting to return to China.

"After breaking and even reversing expectations for yuan depreciation, there are signs of a trend of capital returning to China," Sheng wrote in Monday's editorial in Financial News, a newspaper owned by the PBOC.

Sheng reiterated that interest rates are on an uptrend, underscoring Beijing's shift to a tighter policy stance to temper rampant credit growth and put the economy on an even keel.

The comments from Sheng and Xiao follow last week's data which showed China's economy grew a faster-than-expected 6.9 percent in the first quarter, boosted by higher government infrastructure spending and a gravity-defying property boom.