BEIJING: China has room to ease monetary policy further, but authorities should not be careless in how they use such stimulus options, a central bank official said on Friday, reinforcing its cautious stance.

"Our monetary policy has space...but such policy space cannot be squandered at will," Zhang Xuechun, the deputy director of the research bureau at the People's Bank of China (PBOC), said at a forum in Beijing.

Zhang's remarks echoed those of PBOC governor Yi Gang, who has s ............ET