The yuan appreciated to a 19-year record of 6.1073 against the US dollar Monday after the Chinese central bank set a record reference rate as risks for a default mount in the US.[Hong Kong Company Registration Guide]

The yuan closed at 6.1079 in the interbank market, 0.2 percent stronger than last Friday, after touching the intraday high. The record beat a previous high of 6.1090 on August 16.

Meanwhile, the People's Bank of China set the central parity rate at 6.1406, also the strongest since the [Businesses Registration]government unified the official and market rates at the end of 1993.

The appreciation occurred as the US dollar continued to weaken due to the lingering fiscal standoff.

But Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a report [Hong Kong Company Formation & Registration]yesterday that the room for the yuan to continue to firm is limited as export growth in September is seen to be weaker than expected. China Customs said on Saturday that exports fell 0.3 percent in September from a year earlier.