* Foreign Ministry: yuan rise won't solve U.S. trade problem
* China: has been improving yuan's flexibility since June
* Yuan has risen about 1.4 pct vs dlr since June depegging
(Adds quotes, details)
BEIJING, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Pressuring China about its yuan exchange rate could backfire, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday, maintaining that Washington is wrong to blame the yuan for U.S. economic woes.
"I want to stress that appreciation of the renminbi would not resolve the problem of the deficit between the U.S. and China and will not resolve the U.S. domestic unemployment problem," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular news conference, using the currency's formal name.
"Trade and economic cooperation between China and the United States is mutually beneficial and a win-win proposition. We have always maintained that problems in trade and economic relations between our two countries should be appropriately resolved through consultation on an equal basis. I believe that pressure not only would fail to solve the problems; on the contrary, it could have the opposite effect."
Jiang's comments were Beijing's first official statement on the yuan after sharpened criticism from U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who said on Wednesday that the appreciation of the Chinese currency has been too slow and limited. [ID:nN15135709]
The Chinese Foreign Ministry does not have a direct hand in setting exchange rate policy, and can only voice broad official positions on the issue.
U.S. lawmakers are considering a tough new trade law aimed at pressing Beijing to raise sharply the value of the yuan, which many of them say is behind the gaping U.S. trade deficit with China, worth $226.9 billion in 2009.
Asked about U.S. Congress bills on the yuan, Jiang said China had been improving the currency's flexibility since June, when Beijing announced it was ending a currency peg. The yuan has risen about 1.4 percent against the dollar since then, most of that coming in the last 10 trading sessions.
"I can tell you that since June China has been advancing reform of the mechanism of renminbi exchange rate formation based on domestic and external economic and financial conditions and China's international balance of payments, and has been enhancing the elasticity of the renminbi," she said.
"The direction of reforming the renminbi exchange rate that we're adhering to will not change," Jiang added.
Geithner said he wanted China to achieve a "significant, sustained appreciation over time" and for the yuan to "fully reflect market forces."
In recent days, the yuan has scored its fastest rise since February 2008 -- a move that some analysts view as a concession to growing U.S. rancour over the issue.
This year, Beijing and Washington have also gone through bouts of tensions over Chinese Internet censorship, U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, Tibet and human rights, and China's disputed territorial claims in the South China Sea. (Reporting by Chris Buckley; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Ken Wills)