Beijing - China's central bank on Tuesday said it supports moves towards a global currency reserve to replace the existing reliance on the US dollar to settle international payments.

Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of the People's Bank of China, advocated a "gradual process" of reform of international currency reserves under the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In a speech posted on the bank's website, Zhou said the recent global financial crisis showed the need for "creative reform of the existing international monetary system towards an international reserve currency."

He said the aim of any reform would be to "create an international reserve currency that is disconnected from individual nations and is able to remain stable in the long run, thus removing the inherent deficiencies caused by using credit-based national currencies."

"A super-sovereign reserve currency not only eliminates the inherent risks of credit-based sovereign currency, but also makes it possible to manage global liquidity," Zhou said.

His comments come one week before the G20 group of major economies is scheduled to meet to discuss the financial crisis.

The reform of the Washington-based IMF to give it greater scope to bail out ailing economies is expected to be a major topic at the G20 summit in London on April 1-2.

Hu Xiaolin, the vice governor of the central bank, on Monday said China was willing to back any issue of bonds by the IMF and urged the G20 to give a greater say to developing nations.

Hu also said US Treasury bonds would remain "an important component part of China's foreign currency reserve investments."

China is believed to hold some 1 trillion dollars in US government debt and Hu said his government was therefore "naturally relatively concerned with the safety and profitability of US government bonds." (dpa)