China has never been a currency manipulator

BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- China has never been a currency manipulator, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tuesday, adding the United States' dropping its designation of China as a currency manipulator was in line with the facts and international consensus.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang made the remarks at a press briefing when answering a question regarding the United States on Monday removing the currency manipulator label it imposed on China last summer.

"China has never been a currency manipulator. The latest U.S. conclusion is in line with the facts and the consensus of the international community," Geng said.

Geng added that the latest International Monetary Fund assessment concluded that the yuan's exchange rate level is generally in line with the economy's fundamentals, objectively denying the claim that China is a "currency manipulator."

China is a responsible country, Geng said, adding that, "We have reiterated time and again that we will not engage in competitive currency devaluation and we have not and will never use the currency exchange rate as a tool to address trade conflict."

China will unswervingly deepen the market-oriented reform of the yuan's exchange rate mechanism, continue to improve the managed floating exchange rate system based on market supply and demand and reference to a basket of currencies, and keep the yuan's exchange rate basically stable at a reasonable and balanced level, Geng added.