China yuan weakens below 6.7 in spot market

The spot price of the U.S. dollar against the Chinese yuan exceeded 6.7 on Monday night for the first time since November 2010.

The quote for purchase was 6.7015 and that for sales was 6.7070 at 11 p.m., according to an hourly release by the China Foreign Exchange Trading System.

The central parity rate of the yuan versus the U.S. dollar weakened sharply by 156 basis points to 6.6961 on Monday.

In China's spot foreign exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by 2 percent from the central parity rate each trading day.

"To a large extent, the exchange rate is related to investors' economic outlook and confidence," said Tian Lihui, a finance professor at Nankai University.

"From this perspective, the yuan will not substantially depreciate as long as China's economy is stable," he said.

China's GDP grew 6.7 percent in the second quarter of 2016, flat from the first quarter and within the target range of 6.5 to 7 percent.

Chinese leaders have repeatedly stressed that the country's economic fundamentals rule out a long-term depreciation of the yuan.