China welcomes Trump's change of heart on currency

China is willing to develop more balanced economic and trade ties with the United States, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Thursday in response to US President Donald Trump's saying he no longer regards China as a currency manipulator.

"We have no intention to stimulate exports through devaluing the currency, and there is no basis for the continuous devaluation of (Chinese currency) renminbi," spokesman Lu Kang told a news conference.

Lu said that during the first meeting between President Xi Jinping and Trump in Florida last week, the two leaders had a "long and deep discussion" on economic and trade issue. The two sides reached an important consensus on making joint efforts to expand cooperation in all areas and properly handle disagreements, he added.

"China is, of course, not a currency manipulator, which is an objective fact," Lu said, adding that China will continue to push forward the reform on the formulation mechanism of RMB exchange rate.

Lu's comments are in response to the recent remarks by Trump that his administration won't label China as a currency manipulator. Trump also complained that the US dollar is too strong.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Trump said "they (China) are not currency manipulators".