Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has criticized the United States for not taking measures to halt the slide in the dollar and insisted that China will not revalue the yuan under pressure.

"We have to ask a question. The US dollar is depreciating and it is not managed," he told reporters in Laos late Sunday when asked about pressure to change the yuan's decade-old peg to the dollar.

"What is the reason for that? Shouldn't the relevant parties adopt measures?" he asked.

Turning the tables on the United States, he contrasted the lack of US attention to its currency with China's attitude during the Asian financial crisis seven years ago.

"China is a responsible country," he said. "In 1997, during the financial crisis, we maintained the basic stability of the yuan and made the kind of contribution that we should."

China will not reform the exchange rate of the renminbi (RMB) while hot speculations are piled on the Chinese currency, said Premier Wen in Vientiane Sunday.

The Chinese Government is taking four factors into consideration when dealing with reforms to the RMB, Wen told reporters after meeting with leaders attending the ongoing meeting of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The first is that any changes must meet certain conditions, and the most important is a stable macro-economic environment, a sound market mechanism and a healthy financial system.

The second is that there must be an appropriate plan to keep the RMB stable at a "reasonable and balanced" level, said Wen, adding that the flexibility of RMB must be increased.

The third factor relates to the timing of any policy."To be honest, the more speculations are made in society (about RMB), the less chance we will take the measure (to change RMB)," said Wen.

The last is that China will take into consideration the influence of RMB reform on China's economy as well as the economies in the region and the world.

"China is a responsible country. In the financial crisis in 1997, we kept the stability of the RMB and made due contributions," said Wen, adding China will not only be responsible for benefits to the Chinese people, but also for the whole world.