China may cut key interest rates for a second time this year to stem a slide in prices and reduce companies' debt burdens, Bloomberg News reported, citing Xu Hongyuan, deputy director of economic forecasting at the State Information Center. "An interest-rate cut will help further ease companies' burden and encourage them to invest to boost economic growth," Xu was quoted as saying. "Rising profit would allow companies to raise workers' pay, boosting spending."

In February, China cut an average of 0.25 percentage point from the interest paid on renminbi-denominated bank deposits. Xu said the government is considering a proposal to lower banks' one-year lending rate further by 0.5 percentage point to 4.81 percent and to trim the one-year deposit rate by another 0.25 point to 1.73 percent.