China has committed to speed up moves to liberalise its exchange rate and foreign investment regime, prompting US officials to hail Beijing’s pledges as important, if incremental, steps towards reform.
A joint fact sheet issued after two days of talks between the US and China said Beijing had committed to “reduce foreign exchange intervention as conditions permit; and increase exchange rate flexibility”. Both vowed to refrain from competitive devaluations.
While Chinese officials have in the past agreed to scale back intervention designed to keep the renminbi artificially low, US officials said this was the first time such steps had been spelt out explicitly in a joint document, which gives the commitments added force.