UPDATE 1-China minister says dlr printing "out of control"

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Tue Oct 26, 2010 12:46pm EDT

* China commerce minister says dollar printing hurting China

* Says exporters are prepared for exchange rate changes

* Says export growth next year to be stable, imports to soar

BEIJING, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Dollar issuance by the United States is "out of control", leading to an inflation assault on China, the Chinese commerce minister said in comments reported on Tuesday.

Chen Deming, speaking at a trade fair in southern China, said that exporters had done a good job of preparing themselves for exchange rate changes as well as rising labour costs, but were suddenly confronted with new challenges.

"Because the United States' issuance of dollars is out of control and international commodity prices are continuing to rise, China is being attacked by imported inflation. The uncertainties of this are causing firms big problems," Chen was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua news agency.

Chinese officials have criticised U.S. monetary policy as being too loose before, but rarely in such explicit language.

At the G20 meeting in South Korea which ended on Saturday, Chinese Finance Minister Xie Xuren said that issuers of major reserve currencies -- code for the United States -- must follow responsible economic policies.

Along with posing an inflationary risk, a weak dollar also places appreciation pressure on China's yuan since its value is so closely tied to the U.S. currency.

China's consumer price inflation rose to 3.6 percent in the year to September, a 23-month high. It has been led mainly by food costs and many economists expect it to crest before the end of the year.

Despite his concern about the impact of U.S. monetary policy, Chen gave a positive outlook for Chinese trade next year. He said export growth would be stable, while imports would increase strongly. (Reporting by Simon Rabinovitch; editing by Stephen Nisbet)

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Comments (1)
gregny wrote:
The last time some one in China commented about the us exporting inflation to China was in the 1930 s. When FDR raised the price of gold from $ 20 to 30 dollars and when he raised the price of silver 50 % This created economic hard ship for China s farmers and small merchants which after WW 2 was the cause of China s termoil that it is just now coming out of.

Oct 28, 2010 11:17am EDT  --  Report as abuse
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