The yuan is likely to appreciate against the United States dollar although the continued decline in exports next year may curb the rise, experts pointed.

The Chinese currency ended basically unchanged against the US dollar when it closed at 6.8362 on Friday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. The yuan ended at 6.8357 at the end of the previous week.

"The fall in exports will continue next year and this will leave less room for a yuan's rise," said Liu Dongliang, a foreign exchange analyst at China Merchants Bank Co.

China's foreign exchange reserves dropped for the first time in five years in September to below US$1.91 trillion with the slowdown in the global economy, according to Cai Qiusheng, head of the capital account management department of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

Wang Shaohui, an official at the National Bureau of Statistics, said the deterioration in China's major export markets has put pressure on the yuan to rise against the greenback.

(Shanghai Daily December 29, 2008)