In a rare interview, Wen Jiabao, premier, said in London that China was considering fresh measures to boost its economy beyond its Rmb4,000bn ($585bn) fiscal package launched late last year.

He told the Financial Times: “We may take further new, timely and decisive measures. All these measures have to be taken pre-emptively before an economic retreat.”

Mr Wen is on the fifth leg of a European tour aimed at reassuring trade partners that China will join the west in a co- ordinated effort to tackle the global economic crisis. Although Mr Wen declined to rule out explicitly a devaluation of the renminbi, he stressed that Beijing intended to keep its currency stable at a “balanced and reasonable level”. He added: “Many people have not come to see this point . . . if we have a drastic fluctuation in the exchange rate of the renminbi, it would be a big disaster.”