China opposes ‘manipulator’ label

China’s central bank said yesterday it is “resolutely opposed” to the United States labeling Beijing a currency manipulator a day after it let the yuan weaken significantly against the dollar.

China’s central bank steadied the yuan yesterday, but stock markets continued to fall.

The US Treasury Department on Monday “determined that China is a currency manipulator” – the second major escalation in the two countries’ spiralling trade war in just 24 hours.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) called the designation “wayward unilateralism and protectionist” and said it “seriously undermined international rules”.

The yuan exchange rate “is driven and determined by market forces,” the central bank said in a statement, adding it is “resolutely opposed to this”.

Both the onshore and offshore yuan breached the 7.0 level against the dollar on Monday, which investors see as a key threshold in the Chinese currency’s value, and global equity markets tumbled amid fears of the escalating trade war between the two biggest economies.

But forex trading yesterday was calmer, with the onshore yuan weakening 0.08 percent to 7.0512, and the offshore currency strengthening 0.24 percent to 7.0802.

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