China's Wen reiterates loose policy stance

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will stick to its active fiscal policy and loose monetary measures even though its economic recovery is now on more solid footing, Premier Wen Jiabao said on Thursday.

Wen's comments are the latest reiteration of Beijing's accommodative policy stance, and follow data for October that showed stronger-than-expected industrial output growth of 16.1 percent compared with a year earlier, a 19-month high.

Beijing has started to fine-tune its credit policies, guiding new lending down to 253 billion yuan ($37 billion) in October from 516.7 billion in September, but it has kept the bulk of its stimulus measures in place, particularly those to encourage domestic demand and private investment.

"China's economic recovery is being constantly solidified, but we still face quite a few difficulties and problems," Wen told a conference in Beijing in advance of next year's upcoming Shanghai Expo.

"We need to adjust the economic structure and manage inflationary expectations," Wen said, according to a transcript of his remarks published on the Shanghai Expo's website.

Wen also said that the worst of the financial crisis was over and that the global economy was recovering, although it would be gradual and involve ups and downs. His comments were in line with the policy stance from top officials in recent weeks.

(Reporting by Langi Chiang and Jason Subler; Editing by Ken Wills)