China will not bow to foreign pressure on currency reform: Hu

Chinese President Hu Jintao yesterday brushed aside comments on changes in his country's currency policy saying that a revaluation of the yuan will be done in the interest of China and not under outside pressure.

''Detailed measures for reform should be considered in the context of the world's economic situation, its development and changes as well as China's economic conditions. It won't be advanced by any foreign pressure," Hu said in a statement released by China's foreign ministry yesterday.

He said reform would be based on China's own economic and social development needs.

US President Barack Obama and his administration have been attacking China's currency policy, accusing it of taking unfair advantage because of yuan's undervaluation against dollar.

At a meeting with US President Barack Obama at the end of a nuclear security summit in Washington on Monday Hu told Obama that a rise in the value of the yuan would not solve US economic ills.

''Renminbi appreciation would neither balance Sino-US trade nor solve the unemployment problem in the US,'' Hu said.
Despite Hu's statements, many economists and financial analysts believe China will re-value the yuan in the second or third quarter this year. Options include a one-off revaluation or resuming a slow appreciation of the currency.