BEIJING, April 16 (Reuters) - China said on Thursday it would stick to its policy of maintaining a stable exchange rate, after the U.S. Treasury Department refrained from calling China a currency manipulator.
In a report to Congress on currency practices of trading
partners, the Treasury said on Wednesday it believes the Chinese
yuan
Responding to a question about the U.S. report, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu repeated Beijing's assertion that a stable yuan can serve a steadying role in volatile global financial markets.
"We will continue to advance reform of the renminbi exchange rate formation mechanism. Our goal is to maintain the renminbi basically stable at a reasonable and balanced level," Jiang told a regular news briefing in Beijing.
"This is in the interest of not only China but also the world economy," she added.
While campaigning for the Presidency, Barack Obama said China had manipulated its currency's value to boost exports, and Timothy Geithner, now the Treasury Secretary, repeated that claim in a written statement to the Senate Finance Committee in January. (Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Ken Wills)