The central parity rate of the renminbi, or China's currency yuan, strengthened 3 basis points Friday to 6.6239 per U.S. dollar, or a new record high, according to the data released by the China Foreign Exchange Trading System.

China will continue to reform the yuan's exchange rate mechanism but will do so gradually, said Chinese President Hu Jintao during his meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama Thursday on the sidelines of the fifth Group of 20 (G20) summit.

The new high came as China said Thursday its consumer price index (CPI), a major gauge of inflation, hit a 25-month high of 4.4 percent in October.

China's central bank said Wednesday it will raise bank's reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points from Nov. 16 as concerns about inflation and excessive liquidity rise.

At present, the yuan is allowed to float on the inter-bank foreign exchange market within a daily limit of 0.5 percent each way of the central parity rate.