China abolishes yuan-dollar peg, adopts floating rate
By Xu Binglan (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-07-22 05:33

The United States praised China's decision to move to a more flexible currency system.

"I welcome China's announcement today that it is adopting a more flexible exchange rate regime," Treasury Secretary John Snow said in a statement.

China's move is regarded as a significant change by foreign analysts.

Immediately after the move, Malaysia said it was also unpegging its currency, ringgit, from the US dollar and replacing it with a managed float.

But Hong Kong said it would retain its currency peg with the US dollar. "The government has no intention at all of changing the Linked Exchange Rate system, which has served Hong Kong well for more than 21 years and has been the anchor of our economic stability," the city's acting financial secretary Stephen Ip said.

Lee Ferridge, chief currency strategist at Rabobank in London, said there was some surprise at China's announcement.

But "we were all waiting for it to come at any time. It's the biggest economic event of the year."

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