China must brace itself for international spillovers in 2012 despite a positive outlook for the domestic economy, the chief of the country's central bank has said.

The global economy is going to face a string of difficulties and uncertainties in 2012, with the evolving debt crisis in the Eurozone, the uncertain U.S. economic outlook and the slowing growth of emerging countries, Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, said in an interview with Xinhua.

The government must watch carefully and be ready to pick appropriate policy instruments to combat external shocks at any time, Zhou said.

"We need to be prepared for a poor external environment," he said.

However, he remains optimistic about the world's second largest economy despite its cooling trend.

The country's GDP expansion slowed to 9.1 percent in the third quarter of 2011, down from 2010's full-year growth of 10.4 percent.

But Zhou said China's growth momentum will still go strong in 2012, as local governments are slated for reshuffling.

Risks from local government debts and property loans are controllable, he said, and the slowdown in price rises makes anti-inflation efforts not as urgent as in early 2011.