None of major trading partners of the United States is manipulating currency to gain unfair trade advantages, the US Treasury Department said yesterday.

"The Treasury has not found that any other major trading partners of the United States met the requirements for designation" of a country that is manipulating its currency to gain unfair trade advantages against the United States, said the Treasury in its report to Congress on international economic and exchange rate policies.

"The pace of Renminbi appreciation accelerated in the first half of 2008, with the currency rising by 6.2 percent against the US dollar," said the report.

"The rate of appreciation against the dollar was faster than in any period since the change in exchange rate policy on July 21, 2005," the report added.

The report, which the Treasury is required to deliver to Congress every six months, also said that "US economic growth was sluggish in the first half of 2008, following a slight contraction at the end of 2007."