China’s central bank governor has defended the country’s strict new capital control regime as a “normal” response to “over the top” overseas investments by mainland companies and individuals.
“Some people [invested offshore] blindly and were in a rush to do so,” Zhou Xiaochuan said on Friday, at a briefing held on the sidelines of the annual session of China’s rubber-stamp parliament. “Some of this outbound investment was not in line with our own policies and had no real gain for China.”
Mr Zhou’s comments mark the first time he has publicly addressed China’s efforts to rein in overseas investments and slow the renminbi’s fall against the dollar, which accelerated in the second half of last year.