BEIJING, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, advanced to new high against the U.S. dollar Thursday on persistent weakening of the U.S. dollar.
The Chinese yuan strengthened 294 basis points to 6.3045 against the U.S. dollar Thursday, the strongest level since Aug. 11, 2015, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.
The first month of 2018 witnessed the yuan's onshore exchange rate strengthen by 3.38 percent against the U.S. dollar, the biggest monthly gain since 1994.
The reading was also over half of the 6.72 percent strengthened for the whole 2017, the sharpest annual appreciation in nine years.
The dollar index, a gauge that measures the U.S. currency's strength against six other major currencies, has declined over 5 percent since December last year.
In China's spot foreign exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by 2 percent from the central parity rate each trading day.
The central parity rate of the yuan against the U.S. dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day.
