Chen Deming: World should worry about dollar, not renminbi

Commerce Minister Chen Deming said that the world should focus on the stability of the dollar rather than the renminbi’s exchange rate, the Wall Street Journal reported. His comments were posted on the Ministry of Commerce’s website yesterday, redacted from an interview Chen gave Reuters and the International Herald Tribune. Chen argued that the dollar needs to remain stable to sustain a global recovery, pointing to the Dubai debt crisis as an example of remaining fragility. He said combined Chinese imports and exports should fall 16-17% this year before rebounding in 2010. He said a stable renminbi exchange rate is vital for global economic recovery, and said Beijing will continue to improve exchange rate mechanisms.