HONOLULU, United States, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming said the Chinese currency's exchange rate is at a basically reasonable level and adjusting the rate can't solve the U.S. trade deficit with China.

Chen made the remarks Friday while meeting separately with U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson and Congressman Jim McDermott, a Democrat from Washington state, according to a news release made available Saturday.

At the meetings held on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Week, Chen explained the relationship between China's RMB exchange rate and its trade.

He said China's import rate has been expanding far faster than its export rate in recent years, with its foreign trade surplus falling year by year and month by month, to merely 1.4 percent of the country's GDP.

Since the establishment of the APEC forum, Chen said, the two sides have been comparing notes and have arrived at the conclusion that the actual U.S. trade deficit with China was much lower than was previously announced by the United States, due to major differences in the tally of trade statistics between the two countries.

Chen said China's surplus came almost exclusively from trading with the United States, and its trade with other countries and regions was generally balanced.

Of the trade surplus China tallied with the United States, nearly 80 percent came from processing trade and 60 percent from U.S.-owned enterprises. And for processing trade, the added value achieved in China only accounted for 15-20 percent of the goods' overall value, he added.