(Adds German government reaction)
BRUSSELS -(Dow Jones)- The European Commission Saturday welcomed China's move to make its exchange rate more flexible, saying the decision would have positive impacts for the countries that use the euro.
The decision to allow the yuan to move more freely against the U.S. dollar will presumably lead to a rise of the yuan against the dollar, though the Chinese central bank didn't specifically say it would allow the currency to appreciate.
"This implementation of the decision will help achieve more sustainable growth in the global economy, contribute to reduce external imbalances and strengthen the stability of the international monetary and financial system," the commission, the European Union's executive arm, said in a statement.
The German finance ministry stopped short of welcoming outright the move which was announced just days before the summit of leaders from the Group of 20 nations in Canada next week. "With the G20 summit close, we don't want to comment on it now," finance ministry spokeswoman Jeanette Schwamberger said on Saturday.
(Andrea Thomas in Berlin contributed to this story)
Copyright 2009 Dow Jones Newswires
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