China to push ahead with yuan exchange rate reform

Chinese President Xi Jinping said the world's second-largest economy is facing downward pressure but is still growing within a reasonable range.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on September 22, Xi Jinping said that developing capital markets is a key goal in China's reform efforts and will not change just because of current market fluctuations.

100 yuan (15.5 USD) banknotes in Beijing on August 25. Photo: AFP/VNA

In addition, Mr. Xi Jinping also said that the market-oriented exchange rate mechanism reform will still be implemented and there is currently no basis for the yuan to continue to depreciate in the long term.

China is pushing for changes to make the yuan convertible in a stable and orderly manner, Xi Jinping said.

In addition, China's foreign exchange reserves have declined at a "moderate and controllable" rate and are still quite abundant by international standards.

China has been trying to keep the value of the yuan stable (after a surprise devaluation earlier) and its foreign exchange reserves fell by a record $94 billion in August 2015 to $3,560 billion.

However, China's foreign exchange reserves are still the highest in the world, although they have decreased by 436 billion USD (about 11%) compared to the peak of 3,999 billion USD in June 2014.

The news said that the Chinese President affirmed that cyber attacks, theft of trade secrets and attacks on government networks are all illegal; they are criminal acts and should be punished according to relevant laws and international agreements.

According to Mr. Xi Jinping, China and the US share common concerns about cybersecurity and are willing to strengthen cooperation to address the issue.