WASHINGTON Chicago Cubs T-Shirts , April 15 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Treasury Department said on Tuesday that China cannot be ruled as a currency manipulator, but said the pace of RMB's appreciation has been insufficient.
"China's currency (RMB) appreciated on a trade-weighted basis in 2013 but not as fast or by as much as is needed," the U.S. Treasury said in the latest semi-annual Report to Congress on International Economic and Exchange Rate Policies.
Meanwhile, it noted "the recent widening of the trading band gives China the opportunity to reduce intervention and allow the market to play a greater role in determining the exchange rate."
According to the report, the RMB appreciated by 2.9 percent against the U.S. dollar in 2013 Customized Cubs Jersey , and China's current account surplus declined to 2.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013, down from 2.3 percent of GDP in 2012 and from a peak of over 10 percent in 2007.
The report also noted that China's leadership has expressed "a strong desire" for exchange rate reform, and the Third Plenum decision document underlines the goal to "perfect the market-based renminbi exchange rate formation mechanism."
However, the U.S. Treasury voiced concerns over recent volatility of RMB value, saying "the RMB's recent depreciation underlines the importance of a significant increase in the transparency of China's actions in the foreign exchange market."
The Treasury said it will continue to carefully monitor China's exchange rate regime and the path of China's currency and will press for further policy changes.
Yi Gang Cheap Cubs Jersey , deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, said last week in Washington that the recent depreciation in the value of Chinese currency is within "normal" range and China is still on track toward a more market-oriented exchange rate regime.
He said he expected yuan's flexibility to increase in the future with two-way fluctuation instead of one way appreciation.
"I believe that, as time passes by, people will see clearly and better that the entire exchange rate regime mechanism in China is moving toward a market-oriented way," he added.
The U.S. Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 requires the Treasury to provide reports on whether its major trading partners manipulate the rate of exchange between their currency and the United States dollar for purposes of preventing effective balance of payments adjustments or gaining unfair competitive advantage in international trade.
In previous such reports from the Obama administration Cubs Wade Davis Jersey , the U.S. government did not label China as a "currency manipulator".
THE government has “basically exited” from its curbs on irrational outbound investment deals, Pan Gongsheng, the head of China’s foreign exchange regulator, was quoted by media as saying yesterday.
“At the end of last year, several departments took phased measures to control irrational outbound direct investment Cubs Munenori Kawasaki Jersey , and so far they have basically exited (from such measures),” Chinese financial news outlet Yicai quoted Pan, head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, as saying.
China’s non-financial outbound direct investment in the January-October period slumped 40.9 percent year on year to US$86.31 billion as authorities bear down on what they say are speculative foreign ventures.
The decline in outbound investment reflected the government’s restrictive measures and “a gradual maturation and return to the rationality of external investment by market players,” Pan said.
The government said it continues to encourage genuine overseas deals but has vowed to limit overseas investment in property Cubs Hector Rondon Jersey , hotels, entertainment, sports clubs and film industries which were suspected to be more speculative.
China also said it encourages overseas investment by qualified companies as they integrate into the global industrial and value chains and support investment by firms involved in Belt and Road Initiative projects, while taking steps to curb investment risks.
Last week, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) issued draft guidelines for its companies investing overseas Cubs Justin Grimm Jersey , streamlining approval processes for deals while raising oversight for projects in sensitive sectors and countries.
The NDRC warned that the government will record and tally instances of laws and regulations being broken in China or abroad, and offenders would be punished.
In addition to illegal activities, the guidelines specifically say actions that “violate international conventions and U.N. resolutions, or that disrupt foreign economic cooperation, adversely impact the Belt and Road initiative Cubs John Lackey Jersey , or harm China’s reputation,” will be recorded.
The guidelines also focus on monitoring cross-border capital flows by insisting overseas deals are reasonable and disclosures are accurate.
Companies or individuals that break rules will be penalized in various ways, according to the guidelines.(SD-Agencies)