The value of the Renminbi (RMB) yuan against the US dollar hit a new high Thursday with the central parity rate at 7.8697 yuan to one dollar, breaking the 7.87 mark.

 

The market exchange rate of the RMB against the dollar closed Wednesday at a record 7.8661.

 

The yuan's appreciation on Thursday followed previous records on November 1 when the central parity rate hit 7.8720 and November 8 when it was 7.8719.

 

The exchange rate was about 8.27 yuan per US dollar for an extended period before China's reform of the exchange rate system.

 

The government launched the reform in July last year to allow the yuan to float within a daily 0.3 percent band from the official central parity rate.

 

Market observers attribute the appreciation to the continuous slump of the US dollar, saying expectations for an interest rate drop in?the United States?pushed the yuan's value up.

 

Last month the US Federal Reserve decided to keep the interest rate unchanged at 5.25 percent for the third time in a row since August.

 

Meanwhile, the anticipation that China's foreign exchange reserves would exceed US$1 trillion this month is considered another factor in the yuan's appreciation.

 

China's foreign exchange reserves had reached US$987.9 billion by the end of September with a monthly average increase of US$18.7 billion for the first nine months.

 

The RMB was under heavy pressure to appreciate but the current floating band of its exchange rate was wide enough, said Tang Xu, director general of the research department of China's central bank, at a recent seminar.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 10, 2006)