The Group of 20 is debating whether to include a reference to China’s currency in a joint statement by leaders following their two-day summit in Cannes, France, according to an official from a G-20 nation.
A draft of the communique singled out China as needing to allow more flexibility in its currency to help ease global trade and investment imbalances, the official said on condition of anonymity because discussions on the statement haven’t finished. The official wasn’t convinced the citation will remain in the final version because of opposition from Chinese officials. The statement is scheduled for release tomorrow.
Any ratcheting up of pressure on yuan gains might risk stoking tension as European officials seek to persuade China to invest in an expanded rescue fund aimed at resolving the euro- region’s debt crisis. Chinese Deputy Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao last month welcomed a statement by G-20 finance chiefs that omitted reference to the yuan.
The Oct. 16 communique was “comprehensive and balanced,” Zhu said in an interview last month. The text said emerging markets with trade surpluses should continue to “move toward more market-determined exchange-rate systems and achieve greater exchange-rate flexibility to reflect economic fundamentals.”
