 |
| A citizen counts the U.S. dollars in Houma City, north China's Shanxi Province, Oct. 11, 2011. (Xinhua File Photo/Gao Xinsheng) |
BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- China's RMB, or the yuan, is getting close to the equilibrium value, a government think tank economist said Saturday, refuting the U.S. accusation that the currency is undervalued.
The yuan's previous downward moves and the slowing growth of China's foreign exchange reserve signalled the currency "may" already have entered a new stage, Li Yang, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences at a finance forum.
According to latest statistics, the country's forex reserve increment in the third quarter was 50.9 billion U.S. dollars less than that of the second quarter, dragged down mainly by the narrowing trade surplus.
Li's viewpoint on the currency's equilibrium was echoed by Shen Jianguang, chief economist with Hong Kong-based Mizuho Securities Asia, who also refuted the U.S. claims that the RMB has space to further appreciate about 20 percent.
He said the United States may have drawn conclusions from the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) forecast on China's balance of payments, which is not true.
China's trade surplus has been shrinking significantly this year, accounting for 2 percent of its gross domestic output, well below the IMF's forecast of 6 percent, Shen said.
A report issued by the PBOC's financial research center last month said the RMB has risen against the dollar by 30.2 percent since July 2005, when China started to reform its currency mechanism.
However, U.S. officials have repeatedly accused China of keeping its currency artificially low to help exports, despite the yuan's continued appreciation.
Related:
Protecting monetary sovereignty
BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhuanet) --The exchange rate of the Chinese currency has been a source of contention in the international arena in recent months, especially since the International Monetary Fund issued a statement in late July stating that the renminbi is undervalued by 3 to 23 percent and the passage of the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2011 by the US Senate in October. Brazil is also trying to move a long-running exchange rate war to the World Trade Organization.
However, the assertion that the renminbi is undervalued is completely groundless. It has appreciated 21 percent since 2005 in terms of its real effective exchange rate, which has approached the equilibrium exchange rate level since last year, when the country introduced its most recent exchange rate reforms. Full story
China likely to see trade deficit in two years: central bank advisor
BEIJING, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- China's trade surplus may drop to zero, or even negative digits in next two years, said Li Daokui, an advisor and member of the monetary policy committee of the People's Bank of China, the nation's central bank.
The country's narrowing trade surplus is expected to fall to 150 billion U.S. dollars this year, with its ratio in the GDP dropping to 1.5 percent from 8 percent over past years, Li said at a summit held on Friday. Full story
China pledges further RMB exchange rate regime reform
CANNES, France, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) – China has been engaging in the exchange rate regime reform of the Renminbi (RMB), or the Chinese yuan, and will continue its efforts to further increase the flexibility of its currency, a high-level official with the People’s Bank of China said here Wednesday on the eve of the Group of Twenty (G20) leaders’ summit.
"China will also continue its efforts to transform the mode of its economic development, especially in the aspect of boosting domestic consumption," Zhang Tao, the international department director with the central bank, told a press briefing by the Chinese delegation to the summit. Full story
