Don't politicise yuan, China c.bank tells Obama

BEIJING, March 12 (Reuters) - The United States should not make a political issue out of the yuan, China's deputy central bank governor Su Ning said on Friday.

Su was responding to a question about remarks on Thursday by U.S. President Barack Obama, who pressed China to move to a "more market-oriented exchange rate". [ID:nN11216152]

Obama's rare comment about the currency comes as his administration faces a decision over whether to label China a "currency manipulator" in a semiannual Treasury Department report due on April 15.

Speaking on the sidelines of China's annual session of parliament, Su restated Beijing's long-standing argument that a stronger yuan exchange rate would not help to reduce the country's trade surplus. (Reporting by Langi Chiang and Alan Wheatley; Editing by Ken Wills)