The Chinese Foreign Ministry has said that the country has not deliberately devalued its currency and will continue to advance reforms to the RMB exchange rate. The comments come after US President Donald Trump declared China the "grand champions" of currency manipulation. 

"China has no intention of gaining an advantage in trade or raising competitiveness in trade,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang. “There is no basis for continuous depreciation of the RMB. China hopes that relevant parties view issues related to the RMB exchange rate objectively, and do more that is conducive to mutual trust and cooperation. "

Trump said on Thursday that he has not "held back" in his assessment of China. The statement came hours after Trump's new Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin said publicly that he would not name China a currency manipulator any time soon. Mnuchin added that the US Treasury would follow the normal process of analyzing China's currency practices as a major US trading partner.