Economist says renminbi 'overvalued'

The current exchange rate of Chinese currency renminbi had already been overvalued if the currency were traded in a really free market, cnforex.com reported Wednesday, citing Lombard Street economist Diana Choyleva.

However, this is not to say that renminbi will not appreciate in 2014, Choyleva said.

Choyleva explained that the appreciation expectation in the market is mainly based on the prediction that China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, will keep renminbi's upward trend to sustain the current equilibrium.

Some people think China should speed up appreciating its currency to help the country reduce its reliance on export and investment and to boost consumption, Choyleva said. But things have changed in China as letting renminbi appreciate is not the way out for changing China's unbalanced growth model, but may lead to bad results.

The only way is to let the market to play a "decisive role" in rebalancing China's economy, Choyleva added.