The exchange rate of the Chinese currency Renminbi (RMB) has appreciated by a very small margin during the past month following China's move to appreciate its currency by 2.1 percent.

The exchange rate of the US dollar vs RMB stood at 1:8.1012 on Wednesday, according to China's central bank.

China scrapped the currency's peg to US dollar when it announcedthe decision on July 21 to reform its currency exchange mechanism.

That represents very little appreciation compared with the exchange rate of 1:8.11 announced by the central bank a month ago.

Li Yang, director of the Institute of Finance of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the Chinese currency exchange rate has remained stable in the past month while the central bank made swift efforts to promote the development of the country's foreign exchange rate market.

China has a good beginning in its currency exchange rate reform, said the director.

In an interview with Xinhua, Li said the fact that the exchangerate has remained stable indicates that China has regain the initiative over the exchange rate issue.

Under the new regime, the central bank may make a readjustment of the exchange rate at any time according to the actual situationso that the fluctuation of the exchange rate will be a controllable matter, he said.

China does not have to make public the detailed information about the basket of currencies and their weights, which China willmake reference to when readjusting the exchange rate, in order to win the initiative in the exchange rate game, Li said.

Without the detailed information, it will be difficult for international "hot money", or speculative international capital, to attack the exchange rate and profit from speculating on the future exchange rate readjustment, he said.

On Aug. 10, Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of China's central bank, the People's Bank of China (PBC), announced in Shanghai that the US dollar, euro, Japanese Yen and the won of the Republic of Koreawould constitute the basket of currencies acting as a reference indetermining the value of the RMB.

Experts say the move is aimed at reducing market expectations and reducing the uncertainties caused by expectations for further appreciation of the yuan.

The central bank said in its second quarter report that any further revision to the yuan exchange rate would depend on the financial environment with reference to the basket of currencies.

It pledged to maintain the "normal floatation" of the exchange rate and reiterated that it would also maintain the currency at a reasonable and balanced level.

The Chinese yuan had been pegged to the US dollar at a stable rate of about 1 to 8.27 for years before the sudden appreciation last month.

Source: Xinhua