The yuan will likely remain strong against the United States dollar as recent rate cuts by the Federal Reserve have reduced the greenback's appeal, experts said.

The Chinese currency gained against the US dollar last week and finished at 6.8395 on Friday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. The yuan was at 6.8451 at the end of the previous week.

The Fed lowered the key US interest rate on Tuesday to a record range of zero to 0.25 percent.

"The direct effect of the slash in rates is an overall selling of the US dollar and the weakening American economy is not likely to provide enough support for a strong dollar," said a research note by Zhang Zhigang, a foreign exchange trader at the Agricultural Bank of China.

Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said on Wednesday that China will not rely on the yuan's depreciation to stimulate exports and will maintain a stable currency.

(Shanghai Daily December 22, 2008)