Reading Comprehension
RMB’s appreciation to remain gradual
BEIJING - French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe will visit Beijing on Wednesday for talks ahead of the G20 summit in France in November．The summit will discuss the global economic crisis and high levels of sovereign debt owed to China．
The Chinese government has been under pressure from Washington and other trading partners to ease currency policies and other measures that they complain keep the yuan undervalued and swell China's trade surplus(貿易順差)．
But Wei Jianguo, secretary-general of the China Center for International Economic Exchange, said too rapid appreciation of the renminbi will chill the country's exports next year, especially when the global economy is expected to slow down．
"Next year will be a critical period for China's trade, as the ongoing debt crises in the European Union and United States reduce their demand while yuan appreciation and ever-increasing trade protectionism hit China's exports," said Wei, who was a former vice-commerce minister．
While China's exports to emerging economies grow rapidly, they account for just one-third of those lost to developed economies, Wei said, China's trade surplus will decrease to less than ＄100 billion for 2011 from last year's ＄183 billion．
Customs data showed China's imports growth surged to 30.2 percent in August, up from July's 22.9 percent, showing that Chinese demand remained robust despite government efforts to steer economic growth to a more sustainable level．
Zhou Xiaoehuan, China's central bank governor, said in February that the yuan's appreciation will not compromise to foreign pressure, and China will write its own ticket on the pace of its currency appreciation．On Aug 11, the yuan strengthened beyond 6.4 versus the dollar for the first time in I7 years, and visited its all-time trading peak in August 30 to 6.38．
Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank, said last week that inflation was "the most important" issue for China, and he suggested the yuan appreciation would help ease inflation(通貨膨脹), because "an appreciated currency lowers prices at home of the foreign goods"．
But Lian Ping, chief economist at the Bank of Communications, said that to curb inflation should not be entirely dependent on the yuan's appreciation．
"To lower the domestic inflationary pressure via the yuan's appreciation will have to require sharp increase in a short term," Lian said．
"It will be undoubtedly at the cost of a sharp decline of the export and loads of jobs lost the loss outweighs the gain．"
