HONG KONG — China has made a big show of gradually loosening its grip on the value of its currency, an effort meant to mollify critics like President Trump and experts who have long urged Beijing to let markets fix financial problems in the world’s second-largest economy.

Late Friday afternoon, however, the Chinese government said, in effect, “never mind.”

Chinese officials said they were “considering” a change in their procedures that would reinforce their control of the currency — a kind of statement usually indicating a policy had already been approved. The move would essentially bring more short-term stability to China’s financial system, already the subject of renewed focus after Moody’s Investors Service downgraded its credit rating on China’s bonds on Wednesday, citing the country’s mounting debt.

But a move with the currency, the renminbi, would signal that China was retreating from promises it made to the world in recent years to open up its financial system — and many economists say China needs to do that if it wants to continue to grow at a healthy, sustainable pace.

Introducing a ‘Fudge Factor’

The China Foreign Exchange Trade System, which is controlled by the central bank, said it might change the way it sets a value each morning around which the country’s currency is allowed to fluctuate through the day.