By Wang Xu (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-03-05 09:43

Deputies from some of the country's ethnic minorities attend a preparatory meeting of the first session of the 11th NPC yesterday. [China Daily]

The government should increase the flexibility of macro-control measures to achieve better economic growth, Ma Weihua, a member of the CPPCC, said.

"While it's necessary to stick to macro-control measures, policymakers could make more detailed and scientific targets and distinguish the unique needs of different sectors," Ma, who is also president of the China Merchants Bank, said.

Ma cited his own bank as an example.

Since the end of last year, the bank has had to slow its overall loan growth significantly, as the central bank decided to tighten credit to slow down the economy and curb inflation.

"Due to the loan quotas, we have to curb both our consumer credit business as well as loans for fixed-asset investment," Ma said.

"But consumer credit growth is actually conducive for boosting consumption, a sector that needs to be strengthened. "

Over the past year, the central bank raised the amounts that commercial banks needed to put aside in deposits on 10 occasions, so as to soak up liquidity and cool excessive investment.

It also set up loan quotas for local lenders.

Such measures were introduced to curb the nation's loan growth, which gained 16.4 percent year-on-year in 2007, up 1.9 percentage points from 2006.

"The tightening measures should be adjusted according to the situation to achieve better results," Liu Mingkang, chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission and a CPPCC member, said.