Yuan hits new high ahead of Xi's visit
BY LAN LAN
Published: Feb 11 2012 9:03
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BEIJING - The yuan rose to an 18-year-high on Friday, climbing as
Vice-President Xi Jinping prepares to step onto a plane for his trip to the
United States next week.
The People's Bank of China set the yuan's central parity rate against the US
dollar at 6.2937 after the rate rose for two consecutive trading days,
according to the China Foreign Exchange Trading System.
"The exchange rate will see more fluctuations, although the positive outlook
for the Chinese economy has sparked expectations of a strengthening of the
currency," said Zhuang Jian, senior economist with the Asian Development Bank.
Zhuang predicted the yuan may rise about 3 percent this year. However, that is
slower than the 6 percent against the dollar in real terms last year.
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Deputy Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said on Thursday that Xi's visit is an
important opportunity to enhance mutual trust between China and the US.
Cui also expected the visit would help remove hurdles from Sino-US trade,
including restrictions on US exports of certain high-tech products and
obstacles to Chinese investment in the US.
Xi is scheduled to visit the US next week, where he will meet President Barack
Obama and other high-level leaders.
"The rise largely reflects market supply and demand," said Zhang Jianping,
senior economist with the Institute for International Economics Research under
the National Development and Reform Commission.
He said the market expects the Chinese currency to rise because the economy
remains positive and the government has adopted a rather tight monetary policy.
Il Houng Lee, senior resident representative at the Beijing office of the
International Monetary Fund, said the currency will go forward over the medium
term but in the short term it will see more ups and downs.
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