BEIJING (AFP) - The time is right for China to reform its exchange rate regime, and such a move would not have a major impact on the countrys economy, a government researcher was quoted Tuesday as saying. The pressure on the yuan to rise has waned, which shows the currencys rate is close to a market balanced value, said Fan Jianjun, a financial analyst at the Development Research Centre under the State Council, Chinas cabinet. Advancing the exchange rate regime reform now will not lead to a sharp appreciation in the yuan and will not cause any significant impact on the real economy, Fan told the China Economic Times in an interview. It is now the best time to push forward the reform of the yuans exchange rate regime, he said. Critics in Washington and Europe say the yuan, which has effectively been pegged to the dollar for about two years and now stands at 6.8 to the dollar, is artificially kept low to give Chinese exporters an unfair edge. China insists its yuan policy is needed to protect jobs and Chinese leaders have repeatedly said the country would adjust its exchange rate policy at its own pace but Fans comments appeared to go far beyond the consensus view. Fan said the central bank should gradually reduce its role in determining the yuans value, and instead focus its efforts on ensuring the healthy and steady growth of the overall economy, the third largest in the world. The central bank should go from being a decision-maker on the foreign exchange rate to a participant, or even just a supervisor, he said, according to the report.