China would not yield to foreign pressure for the appreciation of its currency yuan, or renminbi, in any form, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Sunday.

"A stable Chinese currency is good for the international community," Wen told Xinhua News Agency in an exclusive interview.

Wen said that China's efforts to maintain a stable yuan-dollar exchange rate during the 1998 Asian financial crisis helped the world.

Some countries demanded the yuan's appreciation while practicing trade protectionism against China, said Wen, adding that this in essence was aimed at checking China's development.

"China will work together with other countries to curb trade protectionism and push forward with the Doha Round trade negotiations," Wen said.

He said that the global economy could not make progress without trade between different economies. "We all know this, but what we need now is the willingness to take action," Wen said.

Chinese exporters were under great pressure due to trade protectionism, he said.

Figures from China's Ministry of Commerce showed that as of the end of November, 19 countries and regions have launched 103 trade related investigations against Chinese products. Both the number of the cases and the money involved was at record high.

Export value of Christmas-related products from China's eastern Zhejiang Province fell 28 percent in 2009 compared with average levels of previous years, due to waning foreign demand and trade barriers in various forms, Wen said.

From January to November, China's imports and exports totaled 1.96 trillion U.S. dollars, down 17.5 percent compared with the same period last year. In breakdown, exports stood at 1.07 trillion U.S. dollars, down 18.8 percent year on year, and imports at 893.02 billion U.S. dollars, down 15.8 percent, according to the General Administration of Customs.

"Chinese exporters need to upgrade their export systems and improve product quality in order to keep their global market share amid an unfavorable trade climate," Wen said.