China biz performance on decline: Report

China’s Business Climate Index (CBC) declined to 133.8 in the first quarter,signalling increasing concerns over stringent monetary tightening policy and periodic rises of interest rates aimed at taming inflation and curb asset bubbles.

The index,a main gauge of corporate performance,declined to 133.8 in the first quarter of this year from a three-year high of 138 in the last quarter of 2010,China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

The retreat signals increasing concerns about the country’s monetary tightening policy and interest rate rises,it said. China’s central bank raised the benchmark one-year leading rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 6.31 per cent and lifted the deposit rate to 3.25 per cent on Tuesday,the fourth increase in interest rates in less than six months,to tame inflation and curb asset bubbles.