China "firm" about keeping dollar as reserve currency

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China needs to diversify the composition of its reserve currencies, but is "very firm" about keeping the dollar as the main currency it its holdings, a senior official of China's central bank said on Wednesday.

"Our policy is very firm that the dollar is the main currency of our reserves," Yi Gang, assistant governor of People's Bank of China told a panel at the CATO Institute in Washington.

Yi said opinions voiced by scholars in China represented ongoing policy debate but did not affect the principle that the currency composition of reserves should reflect trade and investment flows.

(Reporting by Paul Eckert; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)