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Updated: Feb 24, 2017 17:44 IST

China on Friday described itself as the “grand champion” of economic development and rejected US President Donald Trump’s allegation of currency manipulation to gain unfair trade advantages.

“China has no intention of seeking foreign trade advantages via an intentional devaluation of the renminbi. There is no basis for the continued devaluation of the renminbi,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told the media here refuting Trump’s allegation.

Trump, who was strongly critical of China during his campaign, said in an interview that he had not “held back” in his assessment that China manipulates its currency.

Asked repeatedly about how he would respond to Trump’s characterisation of China as a “grand champion of currency manipulation”, Geng shot back saying: “If you must attach the label ‘grand champion’ to China, then I think China is a grand champion. But we are the grand champions of economic development.”

He urged the US to “fully and correctly” view the exchange rate issue.

The Obama and Trump administrations have been accusing China of manipulating currency to artificially keep it low against the dollar to make Chinese exports cheaper, resulting in “stealing” of US jobs.

China’s yuan, one of the strongest currencies, was devalued by over 6.6 per cent last year, against the dollar, the highest since 1994 amid steady drop of China’s exports.

The steady drop of yuan has boosted the dollar value of the exports.

Geng argued that there was no basis for the continued devaluation of the yuan and said “the relevant side can fully and correctly view the renminbi exchange rate issue”.