Economy

China’s leaders pledged to intensify “fine-tuning” of policies in a second government statement in four days signalling a commitment to growth as domestic demand slows and Europe’s debt crisis escalates.

“We must proactively take policies and measures to expand demand and to create a favourable policy environment for stable and relatively fast economic growth,” the government said on its website yesterday, summarising a meeting of the state council or cabinet.

The statement builds on Chinese premier Wen Jiabao’s comments published on Sunday showing a bigger focus on bolstering growth, which spurred speculation the government would step up efforts to combat a slowdown.