China forex regulator aims to defuse risk of external shocks

China must prevent and defuse the risk of external shocks this year while strengthening macro-prudential management and guiding market expectations, the country's foreign exchange regulator said on Friday. The comments come as the U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to start hiking interest rates as early as March, while its Chinese counterpart has stepped up monetary easing to prop up a slowing economy, raising concerns about possible capital outflows due to the policy divergence. During the previous round of Fed tightening in 2018, China's currency depreciated sharply. China is better able to cope with external