China Says Yuan Calls `Unwise' in Response to Obama
China Says Yuan Calls ‘Unwise’ in Response to Obama
Nelson Ching/Bloomberg
The yuan has appreciated 1.8 percent against the dollar since June 19, when the People’s Bank of China said it would pursue a more flexible exchange rate after keeping the currency at about 6.83 versus the U.S. currency for almost two years.
The yuan has appreciated 1.8 percent against the dollar since June 19, when the People’s Bank of China said it would pursue a more flexible exchange rate after keeping the currency at about 6.83 versus the U.S. currency for almost two years. Photographer: Nelson Ching/Bloomberg
U.S. finger-pointing at the yuan’s exchange rate is short-sighted and unwise, China’s foreign ministry said in response to comments by President Barack Obama.
“A number of discordant voices in the U.S. have recently pointed to the renminbi exchange rate, and suggested all possible ways to push for its appreciation,” spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a statement on a government website today. “This is unwise and shortsighted.”
China’s leaders haven’t done “everything they said would be done” to allow appreciation, Obama said at an hour-long town hall discussion in Washington.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said last week the U.S. will use every available tool to urge China to let the yuan rise more quickly. Calls to let the currency strengthen will grow as China faces swelling trade protectionism against its exports, Li Daokui, an adviser to the People’s Bank of China, said Sept. 19.
Yuan forwards jumped the most since June today as the dollar weakened against the euro and the yen.
Jiang said the yuan’s exchange rate cannot solve the U.S. trade deficit. She called on the U.S. to pay attention to encouraging stable economic growth and said that as a nation with a reserve currency, it should pursue responsible monetary and fiscal policies to keep major currencies stable.
Trade ‘Advantage’
The yuan is “valued lower than market conditions say it should be” and that gives China “an advantage in trade,” Obama said ahead of scheduled talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at this week’s United Nations General Assembly in New York. “We are going to continue to insist that on this issue and all trade issues with China, it’s a two-way street.”
The yuan has appreciated 1.8 percent against the dollar since June 19, when the People’s Bank of China said it would pursue a more flexible exchange rate after keeping the currency at about 6.83 versus the U.S. currency for almost two years.
Jiang said that China has always aimed to increase imports from the U.S. and hopes America can do more to relax export controls. China will continue to reform its exchange-rate system, she said.
--Henry Sanderson. Editors: Paul Panckhurst, Matthew Oakley.
To contact the reporter on this story: Henry Sanderson in Beijing at hsanderson@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Panckhurst at ppanckhurst@bloomberg.net
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