The yuan gained 0.11 percent against the US dollar last week, the third consecutive week the local currency has appreciated as the country moves to allow more appreciation in the currency to cool growth in money supply and the economy.

 

The yuan closed at 8.0020 to the US dollar in the foreign exchange market in Shanghai on Friday, compared with 8.0112 a week earlier. The rate between the yuan and the greenback was at 8.0220 on June 2.

 

China's trade surplus hit US$13 billion in May, an increase of US$2.5 billion from a month earlier, said the customs bureau last week.

 

Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, said on Thursday the country will sell more securities to pull money from the financial system as investment and inflation accelerate.

 

China's money supply rose the most in four months in May. M2, the broadest measure of money supply, jumped 19.1 percent last month from a year earlier, against a year-on-year growth of 18.9 percent in April.

 

(Shanghai Daily June 19, 2006)