GUANGZHOU – The economic woes of the United States are not linked with the country's trade deficit with China nor the Chinese currency exchange rate, said former US president Jimmy Carter.

"The US has trade deficits with some 80 countries. Do we need to blame all these countries for the economic recession? It is not an issue about the trade deficit with China and the currency exchange rate, but our sovereign debt," Carter said.

Carter made the remarks in a keynote speech at the second Halter Financial Summit, an industry event gathering financial and economic professionals worldwide, which was held over the weekend in Guangzhou, capital city of South China's Guangdong province.

In the speech, Carter criticized US politicians and economists who attributed the economic woes, which started in 2008, to the Sino-US trade deficit and Chinese currency exchange rate.

In October, the US Congress passed a bill targeting the yuan to punish Beijing for alleged currency manipulation after Washington linked the Chinese currency exchange rate with Sino-US trade issues.

"Some people in the US have been worried about impacts brought by China's rapid economic development in the past three decades. But I am exceptional. China's rising economy should be seen as a healthy competition for the US," Carter said.

China's economic development is helpful to the US and the global economy, he said.

Instead of criticizing the trade deficit with China and the yuan exchange rate, Carter said the United States should cooperate more with China in international issues including world peace, elimination of poverty and environmental protection.

At a meeting with US Commerce Secretary John Bryson and Congressman Jim McDermott last month, Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming also said China's exchange rate is at a reasonable level and adjusting the rate would not solve the US trade deficit with China, Xinhua News Agency said.

Chen said China's import rate has been expanding far faster than its export rate in recent years, with its foreign trade surplus falling year by year and month by month to merely 1.4 percent of the country's GDP.

"China is ready to increase imports from the US in an effort to boost trade balance," Chen said, adding that the US practice of putting products on the controlled list has led to a loss of nearly $100 billion in US exports to China.

China has become the US' fastest export destination in recent years, with its export to China increased by around 36 percent in the first seven months of this year, sources from the Ministry of Commerce said.

The figure is higher than the average US export rate, which hit 13.6 percent.

The ministry expects that the trade value between China and the US will likely surpass $400 billion this year, given that China has steadily imported more goods from the US.