The Chinese currency, the yuan, rose to a fresh high against the US dollar on Tuesday, with the central parity rate at 6.9295 yuan to one dollar.

The yuan, also known as the Renminbi, went up 77 basis points from the previous trading day, according to China Foreign Exchange Trading System.

The currency has risen more than 5 percent since the beginning of the year, and it was the 40th time that it set a new high against the greenback this year.

The yuan made a breakthrough to the 7-yuan mark against the dollar in early April, and the fast pace of its appreciation slowed down afterwards as the dollar gradually gained on better-than-expected economic data.

Experts said that the appreciation of yuan could help curb inflation, but might not be very effective, as the increasing global product prices and the US monetary policy also played a role.

On Tuesday, the yuan also gained 227 basis points against the euro, 939 basis points against the British pound, and 88 basis points against the Hong Kong dollar, while it lost against the Japanese yen by 538 basis points.

(Xinhua News Agency June 3, 2008)