China Says Yuan Rise Can’t Solve Sino-U.S. Trade Gap

(Business Week/Bloomberg)

Appreciation of China’s currency won’t resolve the Sino-U.S. trade imbalance or the consumer debt, low savings rate and unemployment in the world’s largest economy, Qin Gang, spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry said today.

China will reform its exchange-rate mechanism based on developments in the global economy and its own economic performance, Qin said in a statement on the foreign ministry website.

U.S. lawmakers said this month they will go ahead with legislation targeting the yuan just as leaders of both countries prepare to meet this month at a Group of 20 nations summit in Toronto. The Senate will vote “soon” on a measure aimed at getting China to raise the value of its currency, Senator Charles Schumer of New York told Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner at a hearing on June 11. Read more here.