From Bloomberg:

China’s central bank rejected predictions that exports will collapse because of the U.S. economic slump, signaling policy makers are unlikely to relax lending curbs or stem the yuan’s appreciation.

“Some think drastically weakening external demand may lead the economy to a hard landing and that we should loosen policies,” the bank’s financial research institute said in a report e-mailed to Bloomberg News yesterday. Analysis of exports should be objective and “not exaggerated,” it said, adding that a “drastic” slowdown in shipments won’t come soon.

China has allowed the yuan to gain 5 percent against the dollar this year and told banks to set aside more reserves four times as it battles inflation near a 12-year high. The report shows that the People’s Bank of China regards rising prices, exacerbated by last month’s earthquake, as a bigger threat than cooling export demand.