Yuan Hits Three-Year High, PBOC Eases Curbs

Jared Kim · 2026-09-21T12:20:21.179Z

The yuan hitting a three-year high right before the summit looks like a deliberate signal of stability from Beijing.

Yuan Hits Three-Year High, PBOC Eases Curbs — Photo: Press Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

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China's yuan closed at 6.6955 per dollar on Sept. 21, its strongest close since June 30, 2022, after an intraday high of 6.6950, the strongest since Jan. 16, 2023. Before the open the People's Bank of China fixed the midpoint at 6.7487, the strongest since Feb. 3, 2023, yet 536 pips weaker than a Reuters estimate. Spot yuan can trade 2 percent either side of that rate. Offshore yuan traded at 6.6946, up about 0.03 percent. For nearly a year the PBOC set guidance weaker than market expectations. The session followed Sept. 20 talks in New York between U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng ahead of a Trump-Xi summit scheduled Wednesday to Friday. The dollar index was steady at 100.23. WHAT'S CONTESTED: Goldman Sachs said Chinese policymakers should continue to feel comfortable allowing sustained but gradual currency appreciation, and that the summit's occurrence should help maintain a stable trading relationship. OCBC said that given the wide US-China yield differential and still-soft domestic fundamentals, part of the recent appreciation may reflect policy-managed stability around the summit rather than a fundamental rerating of the renminbi. Whether the PBOC keeps tolerating gains after the summit remains open.