China's central bank will closely monitor the economic and financial operations of the country and intensify related research and analysis so as to enhance and improve the regulation of the financial sector, Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said in Beijing Thursday.

The People's Bank of China, or the central bank, will try to bring into full play the role of the monetary and credit policies to promote economic restructuring and the change in the mode of economic growth, Zhou told a meeting of heads of branches.

He urged the branches to study ways to nurture and promote the development of new products and new tools in the financial market,and improve the management of foreign exchange aimed at a balance of payments and a stable exchange rate of the Chinese currency based on a rational and balanced level.

He also called for speeding up the reform of state-owned commercial banks and the pilot reform of rural credit cooperativesin a bid to maintain the stable operation of the financial system.

According to the central bank governor, China's macro-control policies and measures since last year have yielded encouraging results as the economy has kept growing rapidly, the economic performance as a whole has improved, foreign trade has maintained a strong growth momentum, and consumer demand has been growing steadily.

More positive results will be scored with the further implementation of these policies and measures, Zhou said.

Source: Xinhua