The Chinese government has hinted that it is planning to gradually increase the value of the yuan next year.
Influential government think-tank State Information Centre said the "trend" would be for the currency to rise...
The State Information Centre acknowledged that there was pressure for the yuan to appreciate.
"There will also be factors that help relieve the pressure, but the upward trend will not change," it said.
A problem for the U.S.? Obviously the administration thinks not:
Although China did increase the value of the yuan by 2.1% in July, Washington says it remains undervalued and thus gives Chinese exports an unfair advantage.
US President George W Bush is likely to bring up the matter when he visits Beijing later this month.
And, as Mark Thoma reported yesterday, Federal Reserve Bank of St, Louis president William Poole has joined the ranks of those who believe the trip toward long-run balance in the global economy need not be excessively arduous.