(Yicai) Dec. 29 -- The Chinese yuan strengthened further against the US dollar today, the last trading day of 2023, clawing its way back to the psychologically important threshold of 7, but over the course of the whole year the currency has depreciated 1.7 percent.

The central parity rate of the redback against the US dollar stood at 7.0827 on Dec. 29, the highest since May 31, according to data from the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. The benchmark exchange rate has tumbled for two straight years and last year slumped 9.2 percent.

The yuan exchange rate has fluctuated from a high of 6.7130 on Feb. 2 to a low of 7.2258 on June 30. This is a range of 7.36 percent, much lower than 2022’s 15 percent.

This year, there was balanced supply and demand in the foreign exchange market, there was a stable current account surplus, sufficient forex reserves, and a steady exchange rate at a reasonable and balanced level, all of which have served to stabilize the macroeconomy, the People’s Bank of China’s monetary policy department said at its regular quarterly meeting.

Editor: Kim Taylor