The yuan hit a post-appreciation high last week and breached the psychologically important level of 7.92 for the first time since the policy shift in July 2005.

 

The People's Bank of China set the central parity rate of the yuan at 7.9188 against the US dollar on Friday, compared with a figure of 7.9459 a session earlier, extending its gains to 0.34 percent last week.

 

Meanwhile, the yuan is almost equal to the Hong Kong dollar. The central bank set central parity of the yuan at 1.01766 against the Hong Kong dollar.

 

The yuan hit a high of 7.9162 on Friday; the highest level the decade-old peg to the US dollar was scrapped on July 21, 2005.

 

The strong central parity rate was in line with a weaker US currency. The dollar hovered around two-week lows against major global currencies, said traders.

 

Some traders said the gains are unlikely to be sustained and the yuan could easily swing back to the 7.9300 levels this week.

 

(Shanghai Daily September 25, 2006)