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Premier: Yuan appreciated 14.5% in last two years

By Qiang Xiaoji (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-03-14 10:42

Premier: Yuan appreciated 14.5% in last two years

Premier Wen Jiabao said Sunday that keeping the RMB exchange rate basically stable had played an important role in facilitating the recovery of the global economy from the worst financial crisis in decades.

Chinese yuan is "not undervalued", Premier Wen Jiabao told a press conference Sunday after the closing meeting of the national legislature's annual session at the Great Hall of the People.

Wen said China's real effective exchange rate appreciated 14.5 percent between July 2008 and February 2009, the worst time of the world economy.

During this period, China's exports fell by 16 percent but imports only dropped 11 percent and its trade surplus decreased $102 billion.

He said keeping the yuan exchange rate basically stable had played an important role in facilitating the recovery of the global economy from the worst financial crisis in decades.

Wen said since China began its currency reform to unpeg the yuan against the US dollar in July 2005, the yuan has appreciated 21 percent against the US dollar, or 16 percent in real terms.