The Chinese yuan strengthened to a record high against the U.S. dollar on January 13 to reach 6.5997 per dollar, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trading System.

China's central bank announced on June 2010 it would further reform the yuan exchange rate formation mechanism to improve its flexibility.

On China's foreign exchange spot market, the yuan can rise or fall 0.5 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 enquired prices from all market makers before the opening of the market each business day.