China said on Wednesday that the yuan's exchange rate was not the reason for unbalanced trade ties with the United States, after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he would label it a currency manipulator.

"Trade and economic cooperation between China and the US is what keeps the bilateral relationship steady and moves it forward," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement on its website responding to Trump's comments. "The essence of it is mutual benefit and win-win results. The exchange rate of Chinese RMB is not the culprit of China-US trade imbalance."

It is hoped that relevant people in the US can objectively and rationally view China-US trade relations, do more to enhance mutual trust and cooperation, and jointly maintain the sound and steady development of bilateral economic and trade ties, Hong said.

"This serves the common interests of the two sides," he added.

In a Tuesday speech on his stance on trade policies, Trump said that if elected, he would direct his treasury secretary to label China a currency manipulator, a move he said "that should have been done years ago".

Beijing has committed to continue market-oriented exchange rate reform of the yuan. Chinese officials have also said Trump's trade policies are irrational.

Trump has repeatedly attacked China's trade policy, claiming the country's currency devaluation would "suck the blood out" of America.

Tim Worstall, a senior fellow of British think tank the Adam Smith Institute, refuted Trump's accusations against China in early May. China works very hard to keep the value of the renminbi up instead of down, Xinhua cited Worstall as saying.

The actions of the Chinese government thus make exports from China into the US more expensive than they would be, and make US exports to China cheaper than they otherwise would be - exactly the opposite of what Trump is claiming. If China stopped "manipulating" then the trade deficit would likely widen, said Worstall.

(China Daily USA 06/30/2016 page1)