US report: China not manipulating currency
By Qin Jize (China Daily)Updated: 2006-12-21 09:06
Chen Fengying, a senior researcher with the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said the report allows some leeway for both sides, paving the way for the next round of the strategic dialogue scheduled to be held in Washington next May.
The report indicates that policymakers in the White House understand that "the revaluation of the renminbi, or the yuan, will not solve the trade imbalance," she said, adding the deficit is caused by such factors as globalization and rising energy costs.
Chen emphasized that politicizing economic issues would only generate more disputes.
Ronald McKinnon, a professor of economics at Stanford University, also said the yuan appreciation would not reduce the US deficit.
He wrote in The Wall Street Journal that if China were coerced into a large appreciation of its currency, it could face the same deflationary fate as Japan in the 1980s and 1990s and all this without reducing its trade surplus.
A major revaluation of the renminbi would not correct the saving imbalance between the two countries but cause a major bout of monetary instability, which may seriously hurt the interests of the United States, he said.
Gao Haihong, a senior research fellow on international finance and trade, said China has set its own pace on the reform of the foreign exchange regime based on the country's ground realities.
She said Washington should give China more time so that it can adjust its policies step by step, adding that the report shows the Bush administration has adopted a constructive attitude towards China.
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