China to actively prepare new economic plans -Hu

BEIJING, Sept 22 - China will actively prepare new economic plans in the light of domestic and international developments, President Hu Jintao was reported as saying on Tuesday by state television.

Hu also reiterated Beijing's "active fiscal policy and appropriately loose monetary policy", a stance which it adopted when the global financial crisis combined with a property downturn to slow the world's third-largest economy to a virtual halt late last year.

"We will closely observe international and domestic economic changes and will actively prepare new response plans," Hu was quoted as saying in a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in New York ahead of this week's G20 summit.

Chinese leaders have long said that they stand ready to tweak the country's 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion), two-year stimulus plan or take new steps to support the economy, if necessary.

But analysts and investors have shifted their focus to when Beijing may tighten policy with most indicators pointing to an economy that is firmly on the path to recovery, if not overheating.

The government's target of 8 percent growth this year is well within its grasp after annual growth reached 7.9 percent in the second quarter and is set to accelerate in year-on-year terms in the second half.

Officials have, however, remained circumspect and pledged to continue stimulative policies, repeatedly saying that the country's recovery was not yet on solid ground. ($1=6.825 Yuan)