The central parity rate of the yuan, China's currency Renminbi (RMB), strengthened for a fifth consecutive trading day to a fresh high Thursday at 6.7 per U.S. dollar, according to the data released by the China Foreign Exchange Trading System.

The yuan's central parity gained 69 basis points, or 0.1 percent, to 6.7181 per U.S. dollar Thursday, beating the previous record of 6.725 per U.S. dollar Wednesday, according to the data released by the China Foreign Exchange Trading System.

The yuan has seen increased volatility in the trading days since the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, announced on June 19 this year to increase exchange rate flexibility.

The Chinese currency's central parity against the U.S. dollar has risen by 1.6 percent from the rate of 6.8275 per U.S. dollar that was set a day before the PBOC's pledge to increase flexibility.

On China's foreign exchange spot market, the yuan can rise or fall 0.5 percent from the central parity rate during trading each day.

Based on Thursday's central parity rates, the yuan's value strengthened against all the currencies within its basket with lower rates except the British pound.

The PBOC released the yuan's central parity rates against a basket of currencies -- the U.S. dollar, the euro, the Japanese yen, the Hong Kong dollar, the British pound and the Malaysian Ringgit.

The yuan's parity rate against the euro was set by the central bank at 8.7285 Thursday, lower from 8.7499 Wednesday. The yuan's rate against 100 yen was 7.8496 Thursday, down from Wednesday's 8.0941 despite the Japanese government's move to intervene the yen's rate against the U.S. dollar.

The Chinese currency weakened against the British pound Thursday with the rate against the British pound being fixed higher at 10.4997 from 10.4493 Wednesday.

The central parity of RMB against the U.S. dollar is based on a weighted average of enquired prices from all market makers before the opening of the market in each business day.

The central parity of RMB against the other five currencies is based on the central rate of RMB against the U.S. dollar of the same business day as well as the exchange rates of the five currencies against the U.S. dollar at 9 a.m. (0100 GMT) of the same business day in the international foreign exchange market.