China commerce ministry denies massive capital outflow

BEIJING - China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on Wednesday denied speculation of capital outflows from the country.

"The fundamentals of Chinese economy and market remain sound, and there is no foundation for the yuan to keep depreciating, hence no drastic capital outflows," MOC spokesperson Shen Danyang told a press conference.

The remark was in response to claims of a capital flight, which cited rising imports from Hong Kong in January as fresh evidence of a hidden money exit through trade channels as the yuan weakens.

In January, mainland imports from Hong Kong more than doubled. Shen attributed the rise to a low comparison base last year and mainland efforts to expand imports, warning against drawing easy conclusions without detailed analysis and factual support.

Concerns about capital outflows have been on the rise as the economy slows and the central bank revamped the foreign exchange mechanism last year.

Authorities have cited China's current account surplus and foreign exchange reserves as solid support for the balance of international payments.