Premier Wen Jiabao on Tuesday ruled out a further revaluation of the yuan despite growing pressure from Washington for China to let the currency rise faster to help cut the politically troublesome U.S. trade surplus.

But Wen told a news conference that Beijing would permit greater movement in the yuan, which he pointed out had risen nearly 3 percent against the dollar ? including a landmark 2.1 percent revaluation last July.

?According to the current regime, there is room for the yuan to fluctuate either up or down on its own in line with changes in the market. It?s no longer necessary for us to take one-off administrative measures,? Wen said.

?There will be no more surprises,? Wen, who was speaking after the end of the annual session of parliament, added.

That was a reference to last year?s post-parliament news conference when he grabbed headlines by saying currency reforms that were in the pipeline would come as a surprise.

The reforms were subsequently unveiled on July 21. As well as the one-off 2.1 percent revaluation, the yuan was unshackled from its 11-year-old peg to the dollar and set free to float in tightly managed bands.

It has since gained a further 0.8 percent. Economists say the rise would have been greater but for the firm hand of the Chinese central bank, which buys most of the dollars generated by China?s trade surplus and direct investment inflows.

But Wen noted that the yuan, also known as the renminbi (RMB), had risen against the dollar even though the U.S. currency itself has been strong. And its gains against the euro and the yen had been even greater.

?Through this reform we have established a new RMB exchange rate regime. We will further strengthen the exchange rate system and we will expand the foreign exchange market and allow more flexibility in the fluctuation of the Chinese currency,? he said.

The administration of President George W. Bush is under pressure to rein in a bilateral deficit that on U.S. figures reached $201.6 billion in 2005.