Because of the weaker U.S. dollar against the world's major currencies, China's Renminbi (RMB) also reached a new high against the greenback on Thursday, with the central parity rate breaking the 7.46 mark at 7.4552 yuan.
Graphics shows the central parity rate of the Chinese currency, Renminbi (RMB), against five major currencies, announced by the China Foreign Exange Trading System on Nov. 1, 2007.(Xinhua Photo)
It was the fifth time for the yuan to set a record high against the dollar in seven consecutive trading days. The yuan climbed 140 basis points from previous trading at 7.4692 yuan to one dollar, according to the Chinese Foreign Exchange Trading System.
It's a normal performance for the yuan against the backdrop of the slipping dollar, said Yi Xianrong, a researcher with the Institute of Finance and Banking of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The yuan would continue to go still higher at a quicker pace against the weaker dollar, Yi said.
This was also the 67th new high the yuan has hit since the beginning of this year, up more than four percent accumulatively. The accumulative appreciation since July 21, 2005, when China discontinued yuan's peg to the greenback, has exceeded 8.3 percent.
The People's Bank of China on May 21 further widened the floating band of yuan against dollar for daily spot trading on the inter-bank market from 0.3 percent to 0.5 percent.
However, the yuan lost 59 basis points on Thursday from the previous trading to reach a central parity rate of 10.7888 yuan against one euro, and it was lower against the British Pound with the central parity rate at 15.5031 yuan against one British Pound.
Meanwhile, it gained some ground against the Japanese yen and the Hong Kong dollar to stand at 6.4564 yuan against 100 Japanese yen and 0.96189 yuan against one Hong Kong dollar.
Source: Xinhua News