In an interview with the Yonhap News Agency, Mr. Jose-Antonio Ocampo, UN Under-Secretary-General for economic and social affairs, said China should decide by itself what exchange rate system to adopt.

Mr. Ocampo, who is in the ROK to attend the 6th Global Forum on Reinventing Government, said in counties as China and the ROK, it is the huge influx of foreign funds, rather than current account surplus that causes appreciation of their respective currencies. In such case, government intervention in exchange rate helps the country maintain a certain degree of economic growth.

After the Asian Financial Crisis broke out in 1997, countries around the world showed appreciation of China because it fixed the RMB exchange rate within a relatively narrow range, which contributed to the revival of the Asian economy in a short time. But a few years later some countries changed their stand in this regard and hoped to see big appreciation of the RMB. Mr. Ocampo added that related countries should determine the value of their currencies on their own.

By People's Daily Online