Washington refrained from labeling China a currency manipulator in an official report released on Friday, two days after US President Donald Trump said China is not a currency manipulator.

In its biannual report, the Treasury Department did not label any major trading partner of the US a currency manipulator, saying they did not "(meet) the standards" for currency manipulation in the second half of 2016. However, the Treasury kept China, along with Japan, Germany and Switzerland among other countries and regions, on a "Monitoring List" for their currency practices.

The recent move puts an official stamp on Trump's reversal on a campaign promise to label China a currency manipulator. "They're not currency manipulators," he had told The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, adding that China has not been manipulating its currency for months. The president also expressed his hope that China can help the US with issues concerning the Korean Peninsula.

Eswar Prasad, a professor of international trade at Cornell University was quoted by The Washington Post as saying the decision not to flag China as a currency manipulator is a good thing for global economy.

"Using that label right now would have ratcheted up the tensions, would have accomplished little in terms of advancing US economic and business interests, and could have hurt the bilateral relationship at a time when the relationship is even more important, not just for economics but for geopolitical issues," he said.