China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS) says the daily mid-point of the yuan's exchange rate stood at 8.0350 to the U.S. dollar on Thursday versus Wednesday's close of 8.0388.

The mid-point of the yuan's exchange rate on Thursday was 9.6889 against the Euro, 6.8290 against 100 Japanese yen, and 1.0355 against the Hong Kong dollar.

Pressure is mounting on China to let its currency trade more freely and insiders expect yuan to appreciate, said Yu Yi, a Shanghai economist and a special analyst for Xinhua.

"U.S. senators Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, and Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York, will visit China in the near future. They are sponsoring legislation in the U.S. Congress that would impose tariffs on Chinese goods unless the yuan is allowed to rise more rapidly," Yu said.

From 1994 until July 2005, the policy had been to peg informally the value of the yuan against the value of the U.S. dollar.

China revalued the currency by 2.1 percent to 8.11 yuan per dollar in July last year.

Officially founded in Shanghai in April 1994, CFETS is the first national foreign exchange trade system in China.

It is a non-profit-making public institution with independence in accounting and subject to the head office of the People's Bank of China.

Source: Xinhua