Chinese official says no need to speed renminbi rise

LONDON (Reuters) - China need not accelerate the appreciation of its renminbi currency against the US dollar, the Financial Times quoted a senior Chinese economic policy-maker as saying.

It said the comments by Cheng Siwei, vice-chairman of the standing committee of National People's Congress, were likely to disturb many in the United States, who are hoping a faster appreciation will help rebalance the world economy and improve prospects for U.S. growth.

"My point is that we don't need to accelerate the appreciation of the renminbi. The dollar will not weaken very much and may get stronger, as happened in August," Cheng told the Financial Times (here).

"This makes appreciation of the Chinese currency against the dollar less necessary," he said. The renminbi was still likely to appreciate against other currencies.

Cheng acknowledged there were some disputes about exchange rate policy in Beijing.

(Writing by Ralph Boulton, editing by Myra MacDonald)