China Defends Trade Surpluses and Pledges Not to Weaponise Yuan at G20

China has fired back at critics of its trade imbalances at a Group of 20 gathering, with the central bank firmly denying that Beijing deliberately pursues trade surpluses, while also vowing that it would not weaponise the yuan to boost exports.

In the face of concerns over export reliance, People’s Bank of China governor Pan Gongsheng said the country remained committed to expanding domestic demand, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Wednesday.

“Addressing global imbalances requires all countries to promote their own structural reforms,” Pan was quoted as saying during the two-day G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors, which ended on Tuesday.

The US Treasury instead issued a statement, late on Tuesday, that was “agreed by all G20 members present except China”. It pointed to four specific paragraphs that China had objected to, including one on taking steps to “eliminate non-market policies and practices that exacerbate imbalances”.

“In particular, countries with excessive and persistent external surpluses should remove distortions that constrain domestic consumption and that result in an overreliance on exports for growth,” that paragraph added.

A spokeswoman for China’s commerce ministry, Huang Ling, refuted Bessent’s remarks on Thursday.