China won't devalue yuan to boost export: Premier

2017-03-15
Xinhua

BEIJING — China will not devalue the yuan to boost its exports, Premier Li Keqiang said on March 15.

Last year, the international foreign exchange market experienced some volatility, and major currencies depreciated against the US dollar, Premier Li told a news conference after the close of the annual legislative session.

He added that the depreciation of the Chinese yuan against the dollar was quite modest.

China has no intention of devaluing its currency to boost exports, as the move does no good for companies’ transformation and upgrading, he said.

China does not hope to be involved in any trade war either, because that is not good for the stability of the international trade and currency systems, he added.

China will continue to push forward reform of its exchange rate formation mechanism, and follow a system of managed floating exchange rate determined by market supply and demand.

As the floating band of the yuan widens, we have been able to maintain the RMB exchange rate broadly stable at a reasonable and equilibrium level thanks to the sound economic fundamentals, Premier Li said.

“So we believe that China will be able to continue to contribute to the stability of the global currency system,” said he.

China still has the largest foreign exchange reserves in the world, sufficient to pay for imports and repay short-term external debts, he said.

“China’s foreign exchange reserves are way above the international standard,” said the Premier.

The RMB has solid presence in the international currency system and the RMB exchange rate will remain generally stable, according to Premier Li.