BEIJING - Price stability should always be the main target of China's monetary policy, a central bank official said Wednesday.

Sheng Songcheng, director of the Financial Survey and Statistics Department of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), wrote in a statement posted on the website of the PBOC, saying that the central bank may place more emphasis on economic growth during harsh economic days.

"But in the long run, keeping prices stable is always the main target of the country's monetary policy," he said.

China announced earlier this month that it would shift to a prudent monetary policy in 2011 from its moderately loose stance.

Sheng said China should take asset prices into consideration when formulating monetary policy, as housing and stocks have become important parts of residents' personal property.

Further, Sheng said the country should speed up the pace of interest rate liberalization by adopting a more market-based interest rate policy, including encouraging financial institutions to provide more wealth management products and services.

source:Xinhua