The yuan ended up slightly against the dollar on Thursday after a top Chinese official said China's all-important export sector was over the worst. Commerce Minister Chen Deming said China can now start counting on a revival of exports to help growth.
Exports were still likely to fall for 2009 as a whole, but the worst of the year-on-year declines was over, Chen told two reporters on the sidelines of a presentation by officials from Jiangsu province. "I believe this bottoming out process will be unbalanced and choppy, and we are already in the midst of it," he said.
Exports in July fell 23.0 percent from a year earlier, and imports were down 14.9 percent, the government said on Tuesday. However, after adjusting for the number of working days, exports rose 5.2 percent from June and imports rose 3.5 percent. Spot yuan closed at 6.8337 on Thursday, up slightly from Wednesday's close of 6.8350 after the central bank set the yuan's daily mid-point, or its reference rate, at 6.8343 versus the dollar, up marginally from Wednesday's 6.8351.