China 'worrying about US economy'

A Chinese government researcher said Beijing is worried about the US economy and is watching whether the Federal Reserve launches new stimulus measures that might hurt China.

An economist for the Cabinet’s Development Research Centre, Yu Bin, said today the US economy is doing worse than expected.

He said Beijing needs to “seriously assess” possible risks to its vast holdings of US government debt.

Mr Yu also said Beijing is watching whether the Fed launches a new round of bond purchases to stimulate the economy.

Mr Yu said the tactic, called quantitative easing, might hurt China by pushing up the cost of imported commodities its industries depend on.