The yuan may appreciate against the United States dollar over the short term but is more likely to remain stable in the long run, analysts said.

The Chinese currency dipped slightly against the greenback last week and ended at 6.8347 last Friday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. The yuan closed at 6.8320 by the end of the previous week.

The State Council, China's Cabinet, last Wednesday picked Shanghai and four other cities in Guangdong Province to take part in a trial to settle overseas trade in the yuan rather than US dollars in a move to stabilize the trade and to build up the yuan's position in the international monetary system.

"The trial settlement in yuan would favor the local currency and boost its appreciation in the short and middle terms," according to a research note by Standard Charted.

Deng Xianhong, deputy head of the State Foreign Exchange Administration, last Friday said China "will move on with the trial of using yuan in overseas trade settlement and relax the cross-border financing restrictions to shore up support from foreign exchange to the economy."

China's exports last month fell by a slower pace of 17.1 percent from a year earlier to US$90.29 billion, the General Administration of Customs said last Friday.

(Shanghai Daily April 13, 2009)