ECB stimulus will boost China's exports

(BEIJING) - A senior Chinese official welcomed the European Central Bank's quantitative easing measures on Friday, saying they will help boost the eurozone economy and in turn benefit China's exports.

The ECB on Thursday unveiled a programme to buy 60 billion euros ($68 billion) of private and public bonds each month starting in March, a move intended to ward off deflation in the single currency area.

The unprecedented scheme will total over 1.0 trillion euros, compared to the 50 billion euros expected by analysts.

Pan Gongsheng, a vice governor of the central People's Bank of China, said Beijing "understands" the decision, adding that it is "positive" for the Chinese economy.

"The new round of the ECB policy will help boost the eurozone economy, increase its foreign demand and benefit China's exports," he told reporters at a briefing. "This is positive."

The European Union is China's largest trade partner. Two-way shipments increased 9.9 percent year-on-year to $615.1 billion in 2014, giving the Asian giant a surplus of $126.6 billion, according to Chinese data.

But Pan also expressed concerns the ECB move, coupled with the end of QE by the US Federal Reserve, could "push the US dollar to strengthen, likely placing pressures on the yuan to depreciate against the dollar".

The deluge of liquidity the ECB will generate, coupled with the appreciation of the dollar, will also "increase uncertainties" in international capital flows as more funds are likely to return to the US, he added.

"We hope central banks of all countries could strengthen communications and coordination on their implementation of monetary policies and their potential spill-over effect... to jointly maintain financial stability," Pan added.