China will extend active fiscal policies aimed at countering the global economic slowdown into 2010, the nation's finance minister said, warning that departing too early from those policies could damage the economy.

Chinese Finance Minister Xie Xuren made the comments at a policy-setting meeting on Sunday, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Xie said China's fiscal policies in 2010 would focus more on expanding domestic demand, especially consumer demand.

(Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Bill Tarrant)

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