Premier calls for ‘every means’ against crisis

? Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Saturday acknowledged his country was feeling ripple effects from the global financial meltdown and pledged robust government spending to keep the economy from stalling.

While the direct impact of the crisis on China has been relatively light, the accompanying global slowdown would “inevitably have an impact on China’s economy,” Wen said.

“We need to use every means to prevent the financial crisis from having an impact on the growth of the real economy,” he said.

Chinese institutions held relatively little of the toxic sub-prime mortgage debt hobbling Western institutions, and were as such largely unscathed by the collapse of the U.S. housing market.

However, the Chinese economy overall is slowing and will be further hit by a decline in demand for Chinese exports ranging from toys to rolled steel.