In a closed-door meeting at the G20 summit in Seoul, South Korea, President Hu Jintao "stood firm against (US president) Barack Obama's pressure on currency revaluation," said an article in Wall Street Journal on Nov 12.

"Currency policy dominated the meeting between Mr. Obama and Mr. Hu after the US president raised it," according to Lael Brainerd, Under Secretary of the US Treasury. The US hopes to see greater appreciation in the value of yuan, China's official currency.

Hu told his US counterpart that China will push forward on the reform of yuan exchange-rate mechanism but it could only be implemented gradually and "a sound external environment" is indispensable, according to the article. Hu also spoke of his attention to the US Federal Reserve's decision to pump $600 billion into its economy, urging the US "to consider the interests of emerging markets". Some have criticized the move, saying it "is driving down the value of the dollar."

It is the third time Hu and Obama have held a face-to-face meeting this year. "That China was emboldened to lecture the US on its currency, a notable reversal of recent meetings, underscores how it and other countries, including Brazil and Germany, have emerged from the global economic crisis faster and more strongly than the US," the article went on to say.

It also cited Obama failure to reach a free-trade agreement with South Korea and said the heavy defeat Obama's Democratic Party suffered in the mid-term election left US authority questioned by world leaders.