China and the United States have agreed to hold economic talks as tensions between the world's two biggest economies continue to rise.

中美两国即将举办经济会谈以解决两国日益严峻的经济形势。

Top officials will meet in the US next month to discuss differences over trade and currency policies, says the US Treasury¹ Department.

The United States has accused China of keeping the value of its yuan currency artificially（人为地） low to help exporters sell products or services abroad.

China is the world's largest exporter.

Currency wars

The growth of the Chinese economy over the past few years has been powered by the success of its export sector².

However, China's major trading partners, notably³ the European Union and US, have raised concerns that the government in Beijing has been engineering an economic strategy that gives an unfair advantage to the country's manufacturers, by keeping its currency artificially low.

A lower valued currency makes Chinese goods cheaper in foreign markets compared with other competitors.

China has maintained that a sudden change in its currency policy will be detrimental⁴（不利的，有害的） not only to its export sector but to its overall economy.

Beijing has been allowing the yuan to slowly appreciate against the US dollar, but not as much as the decision-makers in Washington and Brussels would like. The Chinese currency has gained almost 5% against the US dollar over the last year.

However, analysts⁵ say that despite that gain, the yuan remains⁶ undervalued, compared to currencies like the euro and US dollar.