Top Banker Says China Can Avoid Crisis

China’s banks may be mired in bad debt and its stock markets riddled with irregularities, but the country can escape a financial crisis if it heeds lessons learned by other Asian countries, says the country’s central bank governor, Dai Xianglong. Dai, quoted by the state-run New China News Agency, said China could avoid the pitfalls of a “bubble economy” with reforms to strengthen financial laws and their enforcement. In his report on the national economy to the Standing Committee of the national legislature, Dai noted that China’s foreign exchange reserves of more than $140 billion, its stable currency and its relatively low foreign debt put it in a strong position. He called for avoiding speculative bubbles in real estate and other industries and maintaining a “reasonable” monetary system, sound financial industries and an adequate foreign exchange reserve.