"They should understand that China is doing its best," Wu said. "China's economic restructuring needs a process."

The senators will meet officials in Beijing on March 21-23, in Shanghai on March 23-24, and in Hong Kong on March 25.

What they learn on the trip will determine whether they proceed with a vote on their bill that would apply 27.5 percent tariffs on Chinese imports. A semiannual report due April from the Treasury may accuse China of manipulating its currency.

Manipulator?

"We hope they will not label China as a currency manipulator," said Liu Jianchao, a spokesman for China's foreign ministry in Beijing. "We'll tell them U.S.-China relations are beneficial to both sides."

Ma Kai, head of the National Development Reform Commission, China's top planning body, on March 17 said there have been two- way movements in the yuan so "there has been no manipulation."

The central bank said on Feb. 21 that it aims to deepen reform of the foreign-exchange system as local companies have "adapted" to last year's currency changes.

Shipments abroad helped the Chinese economy double in size in the past decade, leapfrogging the U.K. last quarter to become the world's fourth-largest. China's trade surplus tripled to a record $102 billion last year.

Seeks Speculators

"Previously China had a fixed currency and all speculation was bad," said Steven Chang, global markets vice president in Hong Kong at State Street Bank & Trust Co., a unit of the world's biggest provider of investment services to institutions. "Now they're allowing a lot more volatility and they're wanting more traders and speculators on both sides to trade it"' Chang says the yuan may advance 3 percent to 5 percent this year.

China on July 21 ended its peg to the U.S. currency that had been in place since 1995 and said it would allow the yuan to fluctuate versus an unspecified basket of currencies.

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