China won't devalue yuan

China won't devalue yuan

BEIJING (Dow Jones): Malaysia Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Friday that China's leaders were "adamant" about not devaluing the Chinese currency, and that they agreed with him about the need for more scrutiny and checks in Asia's new financial system.

"The Chinese government, both the president and the prime minister, were adamant that they won't devalue the yuan," Mahathir said after wrapping up a five-day working visit.

He said it was Malaysia's stance that it could accept a slight devaluation of the yuan since the ringgit fell so sharply during the Asia financial crisis. However, neither President Jiang Zemin nor Premier Zhu Rongji gave any indication that Beijing was contemplating such a move in their meetings earlier in the week, Mahathir said.