China's yuan strengthened against the dollar as dealers took note of the latest comments on yuan flexibility from Beijing, with Alan Greenspan expected to discuss the currency in Washington.
The yuan, which was revalued by 2.1 percent on July 21 to 8.11 per dollar, closed at 8.0841 per dollar versus 8.0851 on Wednesday - just shy of its post-revaluation record of 8.0840 per dollar.
The Chinese currency has now appreciated a further 0.32 percent since the July policy move.
Yu Yongding, an influential central bank adviser, told Britain's Financial Times he thought Beijing should allow the currency to fluctuate more. The yuan has now taken three months to appreciate 0.3 percent - which in theory it is allowed to do in only one day.
However, central bank vice governor Wu Xiaoling said the overhaul of China's foreign exchange rate regime should be more important than day-to-day changes in the yuan, suggesting the market should not pay too much attention to the rate moves.
Washington contends the yuan remains seriously undervalued and wants it to rise faster.
"The market has noticed Yu's comments," said a dealer with a foreign bank in Shanghai, adding that Yu's talk boosted trading on the market. "There is some speculation before Greenspan. However, the yuan's rise is still within expectations," the dealer said.
Federal Reserve Chairman Greenspan and US Treasury Secretary John Snow are due to meet with two law-makers who have pressed for legislation that would threaten China with steep tariffs unless Beijing does more to raise the value of the yuan.
Dealers said they expected the yuan to slide against the dollar in coming days should the greenback hold steady. Over the longer term, a gradual and upward movement was inevitable, given China's strong economy and capital inflows, economists say.
The Chinese currency weakened against the euro to close at 9.7470 on Wednesday compared with 9.7320 on Wednesday, but strengthened to 6.9122 per 100 yen from 6.9148, the central bank said on its Web site.