BEIJING: Japan's finance minister on Saturday asked China to make an "appropriate decision" on its foreign exchange policy but stopped short of telling it what to do.

Naoto Kan made the remarks at a news conference after meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao as part of weekend talks in Beijing with top officials.

"I told Wen that I believe China's stable foreign exchange rate policy has helped ease the recent financial turmoil, and asked him to continue to make an appropriate decision" on the currency problem, Kan said, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

But "I didn't say anything on what China should do or shouldn't do" about the yuan, he said.

International disquiet has grown over the yuan, which critics say is undervalued by as much as 40 percent against the dollar, giving Chinese exporters an unfair advantage.

Washington has led the charge in ramping up the pressure on Beijing to let the yuan appreciate. It has been effectively pegged at about 6.8 to the US dollar since mid-2008.

US lawmakers are pushing Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to label Beijing a "currency manipulator" in a report due April 15.

Currently the yuan may rise or fall 0.5 percent against the dollar each day from a mid-point set by the China's central bank and three percent for non-dollar currencies such as the euro and Japanese yen.

However Chinese media reports this week said the government is reviewing proposals to adjust its currency exchange rate system this month, including giving the yuan more flexibility.

During the weekend visit, Kan will meet with China's finance minister Xie Xuren and vice premier Li Keqiang, a spokesman for the Japanese embassy said.