China's leaders pledged to keep adjusting policies to ensure stable economic growth this year as a state newspaper said some banks are telling branches to boost local-government loans.

"The ongoing pace of economic growth is within expectations, but the external environment remains grim and poses difficulties and challenges to growth," the official Xinhua News Agency reported today, citing a meeting of the Communist Party's Politburo. The meeting also determined that maintaining stable growth is still the top priority, Xinhua reported.

The Politburo reiterated China will pursue a "prudent" monetary policy and "proactive" fiscal policy, signaling that authorities are trying to stem a six-quarter slowdown in the world's largest economy without resorting to the level of stimulus implemented after the global financial crisis.