NEW YORK, May 26 (Xinhuanet) -- US Treasury Secretary John Snow said Thursday that China had now taken all the steps needed to prepare for the move to a more flexible currency.

    Snow told the Senate Banking Committee that the US government's nearly two-year currency consultations with China was showing results. China had now taken all the steps needed to prepare their

    financial system for the move to a more flexible currency.

    However, he said that the US government was not insisting that China moves immediately to a currency whose value was set totally in global currency markets. "We are not calling for an immediate full float with fully liberalized capital markets. This would be amistake at this time -- China's banking sector is not prepared," Snow said.

    Thursday's "Wall Street Journal" also cited Snow as saying thata more flexible system in China alone would not solve global imbalances. Solving the global imbalances was the shared responsibility of all major economic participants. Enditem