Senior Chinese and US financial and monetary
officials started their annual Joint Economic Committee (JEC) talks
yesterday afternoon in Xianghe, a town 50 kilometers east of
Beijing.
The meeting, the 17th of its kind, was co-chaired
by Finance Minister Jin
Renqing and his US counterpart John Snow.
Central Bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan and US Federal
Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan also sat face to face across the
negotiation table.
Both countries dispatched nearly 40 delegates to
the talks, senior officials from regulators and administrators on
securities, banking, insurance, foreign exchange and commerce.
Details of the topics discussed were not
immediately available, but Foreign Ministry spokesperson Kong Quan
had said earlier that they were expected to cover issues including
the RMB exchange rate and the global economy.
On July 21, the Chinese government announced that
its currency would be traded at a rate of 8.11 to the US dollar and
its peg to the US dollar would switch to a basket of foreign
currencies. Since then, the yuan has appreciated by nearly two
percent against the US dollar.
Premier Wen
Jiabao, responding to charges that a continued undervaluation
of the yuan gave Chinese exporters an unfair advantage, has
previously said reform of the RMB exchange rate mechanism should be
"a gradual process."
Zhao Jinping, a State Council Development and
Research Center economist, said Wen's remarks showed the goal of
China's exchange rate reform is clear and consistent and would not
change due to outside criticism.
"What should be discussed currently is how to
minimize the impact of the reform to the world economy rather than
pressing China for a faster speed," he said.
Finance Minister Jin put it in a more direct way,
saying that the yuan appreciation would not remove economic
imbalances of the world, especially of certain nations, and that
China will not follow the "orders" of others in conducting its
exchange rate reform.
Established in 1979, the JEC has served as a
regular forum for Chinese and US officials to discuss economic
issues.
Today, they are due to continue their meeting at
Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing, and it is expected to close
this afternoon.
(Xinhua News Agency October 17, 2005)
