WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush said Thursday Washington was "watching closely" whether Beijing would allow the appreciation of the Chinese currency to help address the burgeoning US trade deficit with the Asian giant.
Amid demands in Congress for sanctions against Beijing, Bush expressed US concerns about the movement of the yuan currency during talks with Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi and several other cabinet ministers at the White House.
"One of the issues that I emphasized to Madam Wu Yi as well as the delegation was that we're watching carefully as to whether or not they will appreciate their currency," Bush told reporters after the talks.
"That's all in the context of making it clear to China that we value our relationship but the 233 billion dollars trade deficit must be addressed. And one way is through currency revaluations," he said.
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Charles Rangel, the Democratic chairman of the US House of Representatives committee on ways and means which monitors trade issues, said the panel "has serious concerns about Chinas massive and constant interventions in the currency markets.
"Those interventions keep the value of the Chinese currency artificially low -- making exports from China relatively cheap and imports into China relatively expensive," he said in a statement to Wu during the talks.
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