国内英语新闻:Chinese premier urges Europe not to join chorus on pressuring China on RMB exchange rate

BRUSSELS, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday urged European political and business leaders not to join the "chorus" on pressuring China on the appreciation of the Renminbi, or RMB.

China's trade surplus was explained by the specific structures of the economies involved in international trade instead of the exchange rate of the RMB, Wen said at the Sixth China-EU Business Summit here.

"The (past) appreciations of the RMB did not lead to any changes in the trend (of China recording trade surplus)," Wen said, referring to the fact that China continued to record trade surpluses after it initiated an exchange rate reform in 1994 although the RMB has appreciated by an accumulated 55 percent since then.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao addresses the 6th China-European Union Business Summit in Brussels, capital of Belgium, Oct. 6, 2010.

China also continued to record trade surpluses against the United States after it initiated a second exchange rate reform in 2005 to allow the RMB to appreciate 22 percent against the U.S. dollar since then, Wen said.

"The trade issue should not be politicized. It is an issue of the (trade) structure," the premier said.

Chinese enterprises were still mostly at the lower end of the global industry chain. China has a surplus in commodity trade but deficits in the trade of services. It has surpluses against the United States and the European Union but deficits against South Korea, Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Wen said.