Chinese Currency | featured news

It sounds like President Obama and Mitt Romney are now competing to see who can be tougher on China. While Romney has vowed to brand China a currency manipulator on "day one" of his presidency, Obama this week played up a new complaint against China with the World Trade Organization during his tour of Ohio.

China loosens its currency controls in a move that may spur gains in the value of the yuan. From Monday, the yuan can fluctuate up to 1% in trading against the US dollar from a fixed price set by the central bank, the People's Bank of China said.

The Senate on Tuesday approved a bill aimed at pushing China to let its yuan currency rise in value in the hope of saving American jobs, sending it to the House of Representatives where its fate is uncertain.

U.S. legislation to press China to revalue its currency narrowly cleared a Senate procedural vote before a formal vote later on Thursday but it faced stronger opposition in the House of Representatives.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chinese President Hu Jintao urged an end to a "zero sum" Cold War relationship with the United States and proposed new cooperation, but resisted U.S. arguments about why China should let its currency strengthen.

The United States should use all available tools, including labeling China a currency manipulator, to put pressure on Beijing to raise the value of its yuan, a U.S. watchdog panel said on Wednesday.

Leaders of 20 major economies on Friday refused to back a U.S. push to make China boost its currency's value, keeping alive a dispute that raises fears of a global trade war amid criticism that cheap Chinese exports are costing American jobs.

Concluding that China has little intention of working with the United States on issues like currency, trade and security, the administration is building coalitions to confront China.

The Senate is unlikely to take up pending China currency legislation following a weekend promise by the Group of 20 economic powers to shun currency devaluations for trade advantage, analysts said on Sunday.

The Obama administration backed away on Friday from a showdown with Beijing over the value of China's currency that would have caused new frictions between the world's only superpower and its largest creditor.