China must balance need for stable growth while managing risks: State Council

BEIJING (Reuters) - China must balance the need for stable growth while managing risks and maintain a prudent and neutral monetary policy, the State Council said on Sunday.

The State Council Financial Stability and Development Commission held a special meeting on Saturday to discuss fending off financial risks, according to a statement published by the State Council.

Senior officials in the commission said the world's second-largest economy must properly balance needs for growth, de-leveraging and strengthening supervision, the statement said.

The statement said China will focus on resolving financing difficulties of smaller firms and the private sector, adding that loans to promising companies facing short-term difficulties should not be blindly cut off.

It also said the government will encourage qualified private entities to set up funds that would support the private economy without elaborating further.

(Reporting by Se Young Lee and Min Zhang; editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)