A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman on Thursday rejected US lawmakers' claims that China manipulates its currency, saying a proposed bill introduced to Congress on Wednesday would only instigate protectionism.

"Regarding China's exchange rate policies, I'd like to point out that the Chinese government has never engaged in so-called manipulation of currency exchange rates to obtain international trade benefits," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu told reporters at a regular press conference yesterday.

"Making groundless accusations against China over exchange rates will only encourage US trade protectionism, which will be of no help to really resolve the problems," he said.

The Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act of 2009, introduced on Wednesday by 40 members of US Congress who believe China is "manipulating the yuan currency", aims to make the "unfair trade practice of prolonged currency misalignment" actionable under US countervailing duty and anti-dumping law.

US lawmakers have been long accusing China of manipulating the yuan exchange rate, but US President Barack Obama's Treasury Department has declined to label China a currency manipulator. Previous efforts to pass similar bills have failed.

The US trade deficit with China widened to a record US$266.3 billion in 2008.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will visit Beijing next month for two days of meetings with top Chinese officials. But Ding Yifan, deputy director of the Institute of World Development, Development Research Center of China's State Council, said Geithner might play down the currency issue during his first official visit to China as the US needs China to buy more US treasuries to help bail it out of the recession.

(China.org.cn May 15, 2009)