The U.S. Treasury will press China in bilateral meetings next week to keep moving toward a market-determined exchange rate, reduce excess industrial capacity, and make reforms that boost domestic consumption, a senior Treasury official said on Wednesday.
The official, speaking to reporters ahead of Treasury Secretary Jack Lew's trip to Beijing for the annual U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue meetings on June 6-7, said a "hallmark" for China to achieve a market-determined exchange rate would be "two-sided flexibility" that allows the yuan to both appreciate and depreciate in response to market pressures.
China's yuan has slid in recent weeks to near five-year lows against the dollar amid weak factory data and market expectations that the Federal Reserve is preparing to raise interest rates in June or July.
