Chinese Finance Minister Jin Renqing said that any country's monetary authority acts on its own discretion for its foreign exchange regime and there is no legitimacy in any other country's irresponsible remarks on this issue. This, he claimed, is clarified by the charters of the International Monetary Fund.

Jin told this to reporters when asked about the RMB revaluation which was one of the major topics under the limelight of the one-day 6th Asia-Europe Finance Ministers' Meeting on June 26 in Tianjin.

He highlighted that China made decisions on significant economic issues in the interest of its people and took into account the influence of the decisions on the world in the process.

He recalled that China made the most sacrifice in the 1997-1998 Asian Financial Crisis by maintaining the value of its currency, which contributed greatly to the global economic stability. In that case, China narrowed the range in which yuan exchange rate can float at the strong request from other economies. The purpose was to keep the RMB stable, which in turn helped to bring about stability of the Asian and world economy.

As a responsible country, China is ready to exchange its ideas with other countries in the world on the macro-economic policy.

However, for any country, Jin stressed, the adjustment on its foreign exchange system is the top secret. It is absolute not possible to make any changes in the situation where there is great pressure from the outside and speculators are seeking for their chances.

He warned that the greater the external pressure was and the noisier the buzz was, the more China's reform on its foreign exchange regime would be obstructed.

Jin clarified China's attitude toward its reform on the yuan exchange rate system as well-identified in terms of the direction, unshakably determined, but never subdued to any pressure from the outside.

By People's Daily Online