The yuan may appreciate slightly against the US dollar this week after China's central bank last week set the highest mid-point for the Chinese currency in 10 months.

The yuan ended nearly flat against the greenback last week at 6.8260 last Friday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.

Xia Bin, a member of the People's Bank of China's monetary policy committee, said last Thursday that a sudden appreciation in the yuan would hurt the global economy as well as US consumers.

"We should keep the yuan basically balanced and reasonable," the National Development and Reform Commission, the nation's top planning body, said in a policy overview on its Website last Thursday.

United States Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner paid a surprise visit to China last Thursday and met Vice Premier Wang Qishan in Beijing.

Both sides issued brief statements saying they exchanged views on Sino-US relations and the global economy, without elaborating on the currency issue.