Chinese premier says loose monetary policy to continue

China will stick to a loose monetary policy, Premier Wen Jiabao reiterated Thursday, despite mounting evidence the world's third largest economy has rebounded strongly from the global crisis.
"China's economic recovery trend has continued to consolidate but it still faces a few difficulties and problems," Wen told a forum here on the 2010 World Expo to be held in Shanghai.
"We will continue to implement the active fiscal policy and moderately loose monetary policy ... to facilitate the fast and steady growth of the Chinese economy," he said, according to a transcript of his speech posted on the Shanghai Expo's website.
Wen's remarks were consistent with those made by several senior officials recently and came a day after official data for October showed the economy was on track to exceed the government's eight percent growth target for 2009.
China's recovery from the global crisis has been driven by a four-trillion-yuan (585-billion-dollar) stimulus package unveiled last year and aggressive bank lending -- sparking speculation Beijing would soon move to tighten policies.