China's seemingly forever-increasing foreign reserves, which topped the $3 trillion mark in late March, are hardly newsworthy nowadays. However, what did make the headlines was a rare reality check - in public at least - on the part of the Chinese monetary authorities. In a speech at a high-profile finance forum at the Tsinghua University on April 18, Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of the People's Bank of China (PBoC), made a reluctant admission that the amount is "really too much".

Zhou's