Speaking on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Scotland, People's Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan dismissed reports that there is mounting pressure for the yuan to rise as major currencies, including the euro and yen advance, on the back of a weakening US dollar.

Finance Minister Xie Xuren said maintaining global economic stability is the duty of all central banks and they need to keep their currencies and exchange rates stable.

ADVERTISEMENT

On Friday European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet urged an "orderly and progressive appreciation" of the yuan. His statement followed similar calls from Japan and Brazil.

But Zhou told Bloomberg: "The pressure for the yuan to appreciate was not that huge,' indicating Beijing has no plans yet to change its current policy of maintaining a steady yuan.

International Monetary Fund managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said last week the yuan was "undervalued" and hoped China would address the issue.

Instead of the yuan appreciating, Xie said other countries "should pay attention to the sustainability of their fiscal policies and economic growth."

He said uncertainties remain and that could hinder economic recovery.

In recent months, the yuan has been steady at 6.8274 against the US dollar.