China's currency, the yuan, rose slightly from the previous
day's trading to hit a new high against the U.S. dollar on
Wednesday for the fourth consecutive day, with the central parity
rate standing at 7.2418 yuan to one dollar.
The yuan, also known as the Renminbi, climbed 36 basis points
from Tuesday, according to China Foreign Exchange Trading
System.
Analysts said the continued appreciation of the yuan was largely
a result of a weakening U.S. dollar.
They said the value of the dollar had been pushed further down
by the release of U.S. retail sales figures for December which
revealed a decline that was greater than expected, as a result of
the dip in the country's real estate market and oil price
hikes.
The Chinese currency rose 6.9 percent against the dollar last
year and has appreciated against the greenback by about 12 percent
since a new currency regime was imposed in July 2005 to discontinue
the yuan's peg to the dollar.
Analysts said the downturn of the U.S. dollar would continue
throughout the first half of 2008, while Asian currencies were
expected to remain strong. They forecast that the Chinese currency
would appreciate at least 7-10 percent against the U.S. dollar over
the whole year.
On Wednesday, the Renminbi gained 564 basis points against the
unified European currency to 10.7193 yuan to one euro. It lost 856
basis points against the Japanese currency to 6.7915 yuan to 100
Japanese yen, and 267 basis points to reach 14.1849 yuan to one
British pound.
(Xinhua News Agency January 16, 2008)
