China says it will keep 2016 economic growth within reasonable range

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's top leaders pledged on Monday to keep economic growth within a reasonable range this year, state radio said after a meeting of the Politburo chaired by President Xi Jinping.

China will maintain a pro-active fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy, state radio quoted the Politburo, a top decision-making body of the ruling Communist Party, as saying.

China's leaders are expected to target growth in a range of 6.5 percent to 7 percent this year, sources familiar with their thinking have said, setting a range for the first time because policymakers are uncertain on the economy's prospects.

The world's second-largest economy grew 6.9 percent in 2015, the weakest in 25 years, although some economists believe real growth is even lower.

(Reporting by China Monitoring Desk and Kevin Yao; Editing by Nick Macfie)