|
Growth in imports for the two months declined to 7.7 percent from December's 11.8 percent. Also Monday, central bank officials said Beijing will press ahead with reforms to ease controls on its tightly regulated currency and give market forces a bigger role in setting the yuan's exchange rate, but they gave no details. "We will continue with the reform to have an exchange-rate regime that is more market-based," said Yi Gang, the deputy bank governor in charge of foreign currency. Washington and other trading partners complain an undervalued yuan gives China's exporters an unfair price advantage and swells its trade surpluses. Some American lawmakers want to raise tariffs on Chinese goods if Beijing fails to end its controls. Yi and other officials did not respond to a question about whether Beijing believed the yuan has reached its fair value after its gradual rise against the dollar stopped in recent months and China reported an unexpectedly large $31.5 billion trade deficit for February. Yi also expressed confidence in the ability of Europe, China's biggest trading partner, to solve its debt crisis. He said China will continue to invest in Europe, though he stressed that minimizing risk will be a priority. He gave no indication whether Beijing has decided to contribute to a bailout fund for countries that use the euro. "We believe European countries will be able to cope with the euro crisis," Yi said. "We will continue to invest in Europe as a responsible investor."
Copyright 2012 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries
Community |
Perspectives
|
Law & Courts |
Leisure Time
|
Spiritual Life |
Health & Fitness |
Teen Scene
Calendar
|
Letters to the Editor