BEIJING: China unveiled some of its boldest measures in years on Tuesday aimed at boosting its struggling economy as leaders grapple with a prolonged property sector debt crisis, continued deflationary pressure and high youth unemployment.

Centralbank chief Pan Gongsheng told a news conference in Beijing that the bank would cut a slew of rates in a bid to boost growth, pledging to `promote the expansion of consumption and investment`.

However, `it may not be enough`, Julian Evans-Pritchard, head of China economics at Capital Economics, warned. He said a full economic recovery would `require more substantial fiscal support than the modest pick-up in government spending that`s currently in the pipeline`.

Among the measures unveiled on Tuesday was a cut to the reserve requirement ratio (RRR), which dictates the amount of cash banks must hold in reserve. The move will inject around a trillion yuan ($141.7 billion) in `long-term liquidity` into the financial market, Pan said.

Beijing would also `lower the interest rates of existing mortgage loans`, he said.-AFP