U.S. Treasury Sec urges faster China forex reform

Mon Nov 15, 2004 08:04 AM ET

DUBLIN, Nov 15 (Reuters) - The United States is convinced that China intends to loosen its currency peg, U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said on Monday as he encouraged the Asian giant to speed up the process of reform.

"Their public statements embrace the idea of moving to flexibility. They've taken a lot of steps to get their economy into a position where they can do so," he told a news conference following an address to students at Dublin City University.

"We praise them for that and we urge them to move as fast as they can," Snow said when asked whether the Bush administration had any intentions to increase the pressure on China for currency system reform.