China's yuan breaks through 7.000 to the dollar

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2008

BEIJING (AFP) — China's central bank on Thursday set the yuan at 6.992 against the dollar, the first time the currency has broken through 7.000 since a peg with the US unit was scrapped nearly three years ago.

Thursday's value of 6.992, posted on the central bank's website, means the yuan has now risen about 18 percent against the dollar since July 2005, when it was cut loose from a peg to the greenback.

The speed has picked up recently, with the Chinese currency gaining about four percent against the dollar since the beginning of this year, following sustained US-led foreign pressure for the yuan to appreciate sharply.

"It will have a certain psychological impact, but it won't come as a big shock," Zhang Xinfa, an economist with Galaxy Securities, said of...