China May Conduct More Yuan Pressure Tests

Source: Reuters

China's Ministry of Finance may send research teams to Guangdong, Zhejiang and Shanghai in late March, possibly to conduct more tests on companies' readiness for a currency appreciation, the 21st Century Business Herald reported on Thursday.

In February, China's Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology conducted tests to determine how ready some labour intensive industries were for a possible yuan appreciation against the dollar, the newspaper said.

Years of U.S. complaints over what it says is an artificially undervalued yuan stepped up to a higher pitch last week when U.S. President Barack Obama pressed China to move to a more market-oriented exchange rate.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao denied on Sunday that the yuan was undervalued, adding that his government opposed "politicising" the issue and using coercion to force a country to raise its exchange rate.

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Editor: Jessie Hwang