(CRI English/AFX)
Updated: 2008-02-19 13:34

The central bank has set the yuan central parity rate at a record 7.1574 to the dollar, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trading System.

The rate, published on the official Chinamoney website, compares with the midpoint of 7.1667 set the previous trading day.

The People's Bank of China (PBoC) started setting a daily central parity rate on January 4, 2006.

On July 21, 2005, China freed the yuan from its long-standing peg to the dollar in favor of a trade-weighted basket of currencies, and allowed the local unit to appreciate by 2.1 percent. The PBoC allows a trading band of 0.5 percent on either side of the central parity rate.