Barack Obama urges China to relax grip on its currency

President Obama believes China could help protect US jobs

President Barack Obama has urged China to change its currency strategy, a move that would effectively raise the value of the yuan and benefit US exporters.

He said China should help re-balance global trade to ensure that US goods were not competitively disadvantaged.
Mr Obama said in a speech in Washington that China should move to a "more market-oriented exchange rate".
His rare comments on the yuan risk upsetting Beijing, which says currency issues are an internal matter.
Big business in the US has told Mr Obama to get tougher with China on trade and currency issues.
Manufacturers believe the yuan is being kept artificially low, to make Chinese exports cheaper and imports dearer.
Mr Obama said: "For too long, America served as the consumer engine for the entire world. But we are rebalancing. We're saving more. We all need to rebalance.
"Countries with external deficits need to save and export more. Countries with external surpluses need to boost consumption and domestic demand.
"As I've said before, China moving to a more market-oriented exchange rate would make an essential contribution to that global rebalancing effort."
Difficult relations
In his speech, to the Import-Export Bank's annual conference, Mr Obama said that "at a time when millions of Americans are out of work, boosting our exports is a short-term imperative.
"When other markets are growing, and other nations are competing, we need to get even better. We need to secure our companies a level playing field," he said.
Despite Mr Obama's carefully-chosen words, they are unlikely to go down well in Beijing.
US-China relations have soured recently, largely over Mr Obama's meeting last month with the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and over arms sales to Taiwan.
And relations could be about to worsen. The US Treasury Department is considering whether to label China a "currency manipulator" in a report due on 15 April.
Last Saturday China's central bank released a statement pledging to keep the country's currency stable throughout 2010.
Beijing fears that a change in its exchange rate will slow economic growth. Chinese exports fell 16% last year.