Washington  - US President Barack Obama flatly rejected China's call for a global currency that would gradually replace the dollar as an international reserve.

"I don't believe that there's a need for a global currency," Obama said at a White House press conference Tuesday night, adding that the dollar "is extraordinarily strong right now."

The head of the People's Bank of China, Zhou Xiaochuan, said Tuesday there should be a "gradual process" of reform away from the dollar and to a global currency under the International Monetary Fund.

China's government has expressed concerns in the last month over its nearly 1-trillion-dollar holdings of US government debt amid the worst global recession since World War II, forcing the White House to insist that China's reserves are still in good hands. Russia has made similar suggestions for an international currency.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, also rejected the Chinese plan during congressional testimony earlier Tuesday. (dpa)