BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Central Bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan reiterated that China will make its monetary policy more flexible and targeted, amid intense speculation that the bank may increase interest rates as early as this weekend.

The comments by Zhou, published on the central bank's website on Thursday, were made at an internal meeting about China's development plans for the next five years.

Zhou also said that the central bank would try to balance the need to grow the economy and restructure it, as well as the need to manage inflation.

(Reporting by Zhou Xin and Koh Gui Qing)