BEIJING (AFX) - US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said the management of foreign exchange rates to redistribute wealth is not an appropriate policy tool. In answering questions from students at the University of International Business and Economics, O'Neill said leaders should focus on boosting productivity growth, rather than manipulating exchange rates. "The important thing for every country in the world is that it work on improving its relative rate of real growth compared to the rest of the world," he said. "The alternative that's buried inside the idea of caring about manipulating exchange rates is an idea I don't agree with at all -- that idea is that leaders are supposed to redistribute income and wealth. "I don't believe that's an appropriate role for leaders," O'Neill said. Asked about the Bush administration's commitment to the strong-dollar policy despite the apparent harm it does to US manufacturers and exporters, he said "there's no value (in) stirring up the financial speculators by responding to this question." However, he reiterated his view that good corporate managers are able to generate profits without regard to currency value fluctuations. He noted that while head of Alcoa Inc, he faced dollar/yen values that fluctuated between 80-240 yen. "Under all those conditions my company continued to add jobs (and boost) profitability," he said. Managers should "pay attention to things under (their) control, not other things in the world," he said.