The yuan climbed to the strongest since a fixed foreign-exchange rate was scrapped in 2005.

The yuan rose for a seventh day after United States Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson wrapped up two days of talks with Chinese officials, when they urged each other to strengthen their exchange rates. China's currency is the top-performer among Asia's 10 most-traded currencies over the past month as policy makers seek gains to slow price increases.

The currency rose 0.07 percent to 6.8776 to the US dollar in Shanghai as of 5:30pm from 6.8821 on Wednesday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. It touched 6.8748, the highest since the end of the US dollar link in 2005.

(Shanghai Daily June 20, 2008)