The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a statement Wednesday that the report of its officials' estimating the depreciation of yuan down to 7 against the U.S. dollar was "totally fabricated".

"Officials from our commission have never made such comments," the statement said.

China Briefing News on Tuesday quoted NDRC vice chairman Zhang Xiaoqiang as saying that the RMB could weaken to around 6.9 to 7 against the U.S. dollar. Some Chinese websites copied the statement.

The China Briefing News website has released a correction.

The Chinese yuan weakened against the U.S. dollar for the fourth consecutive trading day on Wednesday morning as safety-seeking investors pushed the dollar high.

The central parity was 6.8363 yuan against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, compared with 6.8352 on Tuesday, according to the People's Bank of China, China's central bank. On the over-the-counter market, it ended 6.8374 at noon to the dollar.

China's foreign exchange regulator said Wednesday it is important to prevent big fluctuations of the RMB rate against other currencies.

"It is natural for the RMB rate to fluctuate, but large swings are not acceptable," said Deng Xianhong, deputy director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange Wednesday at a press conference.

The yuan's exchange rate is allowed to fluctuate daily within a band of 0.5 percent against the U.S. dollar on either side of the central parity (reference) rate.

(Xinhua News Agency February 18, 2009)