Beijing: China's Premier Wen Jiabao said one country can't be blamed for imbalances in trade relationships, a comment that comes amid pressure on the Asian nation to allow its currency to appreciate.
Trade problems "can't be blamed on one side," visiting Japanese Finance Minister Naoto Kan quoted Wen as saying yesterday.
Japanese minister's visit
"I didn't tell him what to do" about China's currency, Kan told reporters in Beijing after the meeting. "I told him I expect China to make a wise judgment."
Kan's first visit to Japan's largest trading partner as finance chief comes as debate between China and US lawmakers heats up over whether the Chinese currency should appreciate.
The Treasury Department is scheduled to issue a report on foreign-exchange markets in mid-April, and some Chinese executives have joined US President Barack Obama in backing a stronger yuan, even as Wen says the currency isn't undervalued.
Analysts including Donald Straszheim, director of China research at International Strategy & Investment Group, speculate China may be labelled as a "currency manipulator" in the Treasury Department report.
Kan and his deputy, Naoki Minezaki, had indicated before the trip they wouldn't press China to make its currency more flexible.
Minezaki last week said most corporate executives haven't called on Japan to press China on the yuan. At the same time, Yoshihiko Noda, another of Kan's vice ministers, said on March 15 that a more flexible yuan is desirable for China and the global economy.
China's Premier Wen has kept the yuan at 6.83 per dollar since mid-2008 to shield exporters from the global recession and a contraction in world trade. A state media report on Friday showed Chinese exporters, especially makers of household appliances, vehicles and cell phones, might suffer if the nation's currency were allowed to appreciate.
Support
Chinese business leaders including Yang Yuanqing, chief executive officer of Beijing-based computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd, and Chen Daifu, chairman of Hunan Lengshuijiang Iron & Steel Group Co, last week expressed support for a stronger currency, with Yang saying it would boost consumers' purchasing power and Chen that it would cut import costs.
