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China: key currency countries need watching

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-04-19 13:49

BOAO, China -- Premier Wen Jiabao said on Saturday that the economic polices of countries which issue global reserve currencies require closer supervision as part of building a diversified international monetary system.

Wen and central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan also cautioned against jumping to the conclusion that China is already on the path to economic recovery, after data issued on Thursday showed signs of an upturn in momentum. 

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao gives a keynote speech at the opening plenary of Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2009 in Boao, a scenic town in south China’s Hainan Province, April 18, 2009. [Xinhua]

Wen's currency comments, an apparent reference to US economic management that Beijing has blamed in part for the global financial crisis, were twinned with a pledge to promote more international use of the Chinese yuan .

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Wen has expressed concern in recent months about the safety of Chinese investments in US dollar assets.

"We should strengthen the supervision of the economic policies of the main reserve currency economies and push forward the establishment of a diversified international monetary system," he said in his opening address to the Boao Forum for Asia, held annually in the Chinese island province of Hainan.

It was the second time this month that China has made such an appeal, following President Hu Jintao's call at the London G20 summit earlier this month for the International Monetary Fund to strengthen its oversight of reserve currency-issuing economies.

Long-term Solutions

China caused a stir in March when central bank chief Zhou suggested the idea of reducing reliance on the US dollar as the world's primary unit of foreign exchange by developing the Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) issued by the IMF.

But at the London G20 forum, China did not call for immediate discussion of the subject.

Speaking at the Boao forum on Saturday, Zhou said that his proposal on SDRs was intended mainly to contribute his thoughts on the root cause of the financial crisis and what needed to be done in the long run to prevent such situations in the future.

He was not suggesting that drastic changes to the financial system needed to be taken in the short term, Zhou said.

"It's just like treating a patient. First we need to make a diagnosis. Then comes treatment," Zhou told the forum.

"But right now, not all the doctors have the same diagnosis....  Unfortunately, it seems that there is still no consensus among various countries about the source of the financial crisis," he said.

Premier Wen said China would look at expanding its currency swap agreements that are seen as a step toward eventually making the yuan more of a global reserve asset.

"We should give full play to bilateral currency swap agreements and will study expanding currency swaps in scale and to more countries," he said.

China's central bank has signed six swap deals since mid-December, totalling 650 billion yuan ($95 billion), with countries from Argentina to Indonesia.

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