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Washington not trying to contain China: Obama

* Calls for more balanced trade between the two powers

SHANGHAI: US President Barack Obama said he was not seeking to contain China’s rise and called for more balanced trade between the two powers, which have sparred over currency and economic policy ahead of a summit.

The US president struck a genial note after days of swipes between the two sides over trade imbalances and China’s yuan currency, which many in Washington say is so under-valued that it is warping the global economy. “We do not seek to contain China’s rise,” he said before taking questions. “On the contrary, we welcome China as a strong and prosperous and successful member of the community of nations.” Obama noted that in 1979, when Washington established ties with the People’s Republic of China, trade was worth several billion dollars, compared to more than $400 billion (RM1.345 trillion) now.

“This trade could create even more jobs on both sides of the Pacific ... as demands become more balanced it can lead to even more prosperity,” Obama said. But at a gathering of Asia-Pacific leaders in Singapore over the weekend, Hu pointedly ignored international calls for his government to raise the value of the yuan and make Chinese exports relatively more expensive.

He and other senior Chinese officials have instead accused other countries — implicitly including the United States — of damaging trade protectionism aimed at Chinese goods. A senior Chinese official Monday made a fresh, thinly veiled criticism of Washington for running lax monetary and fiscal policies that risk undermining the dollar. But having made their gripes clear before the summit, Obama and Hu may avoid sharp public jabs as they focus on building goodwill between the world’s biggest and third biggest economies. China has had a huge trade surplus with the United States, and is also the largest foreign holder of US government bonds. The US trade deficit with China widened 9.2 per cent in September to US$22.1 billion, the highest since November 2008, according to US data released last week. But neither markets nor officials appear to expect any rapid shift in China’s settings for the yuan. reuters

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