The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 26 basis points to 6.8889 against the U.S. dollar Thursday, according to China Foreign Exchange Trade System.

Chinese authorities have reiterated that the yuan will stabilize this year on the back of a firming economy and rising confidence in the country's growth prospects.

The economy is likely to grow by 6.8 percent year on year in the first quarter of the year as production activities and investment picked up, the National Academy of Economic Strategy (NAES) said in a report on Wednesday.

The firming trend in the fourth quarter last year has continued into the first quarter of 2017, said NAES, pointing to the huge rise in factory-gate prices, rebounding corporate profits and increasing imports.

"Despite downward pressure, China's economy has been operating in a good state," said Wang Hongju, a researcher with NAES. "The focus of macro-economic policies should be directed to supply-side structural reforms to boost potential output in the long run."

In China's spot foreign exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by 2 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 prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day.

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