China blames markets for weak renminbi

The renminbi’s fall against the dollar during the past few days is the result of a weakening trade surplus and shows that the currency is market-based rather than being manipulated by the government, Chinese officials said yesterday.

Calling the fall a “good thing”, Chong Quan, China’s deputy international trade representative, said at a Ministry of Commerce press briefing in Beijing that the decline proved its critics wrong. Xinhua News agreed, saying in a news analysis that the falling renminbi is a normal market response to the change in China’s balance of trade.

The trade surplus of the world’s biggest exporter dropped 36% in October year-on-year. The broader...