‘Basically Stable’

In yet another signal that perhaps pressure from the United States Congress isn't enough to move China's currency, Premier Wen Jiabao said over the weekend that the country intends to keep a "basically stable" currency valuation.

China has for years resisted a one-off revaluation of the yuan, doing so only once when it de-pegged the currency from the US dollar before re-instating a de facto peg to weather the global financial meltdown in 2008. Economists and critics maintain the Chinese yuan is heavily undervalue and that value gives China an unfair trade advantage. The issue has again made waves in the US, where a measure to sanction countries that manipulate their currencies passed the US Senate. Though the bill is unlikely to be approved by the House, it cause China to warn of a trade war.