BEIJING, Jan 23: China denied on Friday that it was manipulating its currency, reacting to a statement by US President Barack Obama’s Treasury secretary-designate Timothy Geithner.

“The Chinese government has never used so-called currency manipulation to gain benefits in its international trade,” the Chinese commerce ministry said in a statement faxed to AFP late on Friday.

“Directing unsubstantiated criticism at China on the exchange rate issue will only help US protectionism and will not help towards a real solution to the issue,” said the statement.

In its response, the Chinese commerce ministry promised to maintain a basically stable currency.

“Even though the global crisis caused by the US subprime crisis has brought serious challenges to the development of China’s economy and China’s foreign trade, we nevertheless have emphasised many times that China will maintain the basic stability of the exchange rate,” it said.

“We will not rely on depreciation to support exports.”

It added that “in a situation where the impact of the global financial crisis continues to spread, all nations should strengthen cooperation and coordination and face the challenges together.”—AFP