Hu resists Obama pressure on currency

US President Barack Obama raised the issue of currency appreciation with President Hu Jintao at the G20 summit in Seoul, but the Chinese leader resisted his pressure, the Wall Street Journal reported. US officials said Obama raised the issue, which subsequently dominated a meeting between the two leaders. Hu responded that China would continue to gradually revamp its exchange rate mechanism, but that Beijing needed "a sound external environment" in order to proceed. Hu also raised China’s concerns about Washington’s easing policy, which will introduce US$600 billion of fresh liquidity into financial markets over the next eight months. Germany and South Korea also expressed their "common concern" over the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing policy.