Yuan hits high on eve of US currency declaration
By Zhang Fengming |
October 16, 2010, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
The Chinese currency hit a new high yesterday, ahead of a US report on whether to label China a currency manipulator.
The yuan ended at 6.6412 against the US dollar in Shanghai after touching an intraday high of 6.6404, up from Thursday's closing of 6.6508, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.
At the new rate, 100 yuan equaled US$15.05.
The People's Bank of China yesterday set the reference central parity rate at 6.6497 against the greenback, the first time for the yuan to break the technically key 6.65 level. It also marked the third straight rise of the currency this week.
The local currency has gained nearly 0.5 percent this week and about 2.8 percent since June 19, when the central bank pledged to pursue a more flexible foreign exchange rate and to end a two-year de facto peg to the US dollar.
Traders said the strong yuan followed a weak dollar across the board against major currencies. China may also be trying to show that it means business in making the yuan more flexible on the central parity, traders said.
The United States Treasury Department was scheduled to decide late yesterday on whether it labels China as a currency manipulator. But Reuters reported that the Obama administration planned to delay a decision.
It was not immediately clear how long the delay would be.
The move to declare China a currency manipulator has long been demanded by many US lawmakers, but is also a potentially big wrench in the important US-China relationship.
Chinese Ministry of Commerce Spokesman Yao Jian said yesterday that the yuan shouldn't be the "scapegoat" of the US' domestic economic woes.
Speaking hours before the US decision, Yao said it is unfair to criticize the yuan's exchange rate simply by pointing at China's trade surplus or export strength.
"It is entirely wrong for the United States to make an issue of China's trade surplus and hence put pressure on the yuan exchange rate," Yao said at a regular ministry briefing.
Yao said that China, as a responsible country, will push forward its foreign exchange regime reform.
The yuan ended at 6.6412 against the US dollar in Shanghai after touching an intraday high of 6.6404, up from Thursday's closing of 6.6508, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.
At the new rate, 100 yuan equaled US$15.05.
The People's Bank of China yesterday set the reference central parity rate at 6.6497 against the greenback, the first time for the yuan to break the technically key 6.65 level. It also marked the third straight rise of the currency this week.
The local currency has gained nearly 0.5 percent this week and about 2.8 percent since June 19, when the central bank pledged to pursue a more flexible foreign exchange rate and to end a two-year de facto peg to the US dollar.
Traders said the strong yuan followed a weak dollar across the board against major currencies. China may also be trying to show that it means business in making the yuan more flexible on the central parity, traders said.
The United States Treasury Department was scheduled to decide late yesterday on whether it labels China as a currency manipulator. But Reuters reported that the Obama administration planned to delay a decision.
It was not immediately clear how long the delay would be.
The move to declare China a currency manipulator has long been demanded by many US lawmakers, but is also a potentially big wrench in the important US-China relationship.
Chinese Ministry of Commerce Spokesman Yao Jian said yesterday that the yuan shouldn't be the "scapegoat" of the US' domestic economic woes.
Speaking hours before the US decision, Yao said it is unfair to criticize the yuan's exchange rate simply by pointing at China's trade surplus or export strength.
"It is entirely wrong for the United States to make an issue of China's trade surplus and hence put pressure on the yuan exchange rate," Yao said at a regular ministry briefing.
Yao said that China, as a responsible country, will push forward its foreign exchange regime reform.
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