"A flexible yuan would be in the interests of the Chinese economy," Kuroda told reporters at the end of a two-day meeting of the European and Asian finance ministers.

"But only a gradual adjustment is appropriate for a country like China," he said, adding China has been a powerhouse for world economic growth in recent years.

Kuroda said China ended the yuan's peg to the U.S. dollar last July, replacing it with a managed float with reference to a basket of major international currencies.

"The move has resulted in more flexibility of the yuan," he said.

Speaking at the same news conference, Austrian Finance Minister Karl-Heinz Grasser, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, said a "gradual" move to a more flexible yuan exchange rate would be good for world economy.

"A more gradual flexibility of the yuan would be a good thing," Grasser added.