Brussels, 02/12/2009 (Agence Europe) - Eurogroup (finance ministers of countries in the eurozone) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) believe the euro is too strong against other hard currencies like the US dollar and the Chinese yuan, pointed out the chair of Eurogroup, Jean-Claude Juncker, at its meeting on Tuesday 1 December 2009 attended by an IMF representative, former Polish prime minister Marek Belka. Juncker said that the participants had agreed with Belka's statement that the euro was overvalued and a number of adjustments were desirable. Juncker himself was just back from a trip to China at the weekend, where he noted the Chinese government's reluctance to respond to eurozone politicians' calls for a change in exchange rate policy for the yuan. He explained, however that he had told his Chinese friends that he was not looking for a sudden or particularly drastic change in Chinese monetary policy but rather a gradual and orderly appreciation of the yuan against the euro. He said it was “abnormal” for a strongly growing economy like China (growing at around 8% of GDP a year) to devalue its currency against a monetary zone like the eurozone which was experiencing much lower levels of growth. He said that increasing the value of the Chinese currency against the euro was desirable in order to reduce global imbalances in the interests of Europe and also in the interests of the Chinese people, who would experience rising purchasing power. Juncker said his Chinese friends do not take the same view, which did not come as a surprise to him. He explained he had not come away feeling reassured that any immediate changes would be made but at least, he said, he has got Europe's view across. (A.B./transl.fl)