CHINA'S foreign ministry said it is willing to discuss the yuan with European Union officials.

EU leaders have complained that the currency is too weak, Bloomberg News reported.

"We are willing to hold dialogue with the EU on this topic," Liu Jianchao, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, told reporters in Beijing yesterday.

"We realize the US and the EU are concerned about this topic."

European finance ministers said on Tuesday that China should allow the yuan to appreciate against the euro in order to correct trade imbalances between the two economies.

The comments come before next week's meeting of the Group of Seven nations in Washington.

The yuan last traded at 7.5045 against the greenback as of 4:09pm in Shanghai and 10.6532 against the euro.

Europe's overall trade deficit with China jumped 22 percent to a record in the first half of this year.