April 24 (Bloomberg) -- China will accelerate foreign exchange reform, a regulatory official said, a day after the central bank governor said the country may speed preparations to loosen the tie between its currency and the U.S. dollar. China should undertake ``step-by-step'' reforms, Wei Benhua, deputy director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, said at a panel discussion during the Boao Forum in southern Hainan Island today. ``We will positively, but prudently, accelerate the process of reform of the renminbi exchange rate,'' Wei said. Yesterday, central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said pressure from outside China could force the country to speed reforms. Today, Wei said domestic concerns should also be considered. ``We should take the domestic effect into consideration first, instead of paying attention to factors such as the trade surplus or deficit with certain countries,'' he said. It's ``probably time,'' but first ``we need to see what the impact will be on neighboring countries.'' Finance ministers from the Group of Seven industrial nations last weekend stepped up calls for China to ease the yuan's decade- old peg to the dollar, which the U.S., Japan and Europe say gives the nation an unfair trade advantage. A more flexible yuan may help China contain inflation and money supply growth amid record foreign-exchange inflows. Currency Peg China's central bank buys and sells dollars to keep its currency at about 8.3 to the dollar, regardless of market developments. Critics say the yuan became undervalued as the dollar declined in recent years, giving Chinese manufacturers a price advantage that's helped drive the U.S. trade deficit to a record and hampered economic growth in Europe.