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WASHINGTON, June 10 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday that reform of China's exchange rate is "critically important" to the U.S. and global economies and a more flexile yuan was in China's interest.
Geithner, in testimony prepared for a hearing of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, said Beijing's shackling of the yuan to the dollar was causing other Asian countries to intervene in foreign exchange markets at record levels.
"The distortions caused by China's exchange rate spread far beyond China's borders and are an impediment to the global rebalancing we need," Geithner said. "A more flexible RMB (yuan) will allow market forces to play a more active role over time in facilitating strong balanced and sustainable growth globally." (Reporting by David Lawder, Editing by W Simon )