Central bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan poured cold water on speculation that China's bulging trade surplus could trigger a dramatic shift in currency policy, restating that the yuan is likely to keep rising only gradually. The German magazine WirtschaftsWoche reported on December 2 that China was preparing to revalue the yuan by 7.2% against the dollar on January 1. When asked about the claims, Zhou dismissed them as "nonsense". Following revaluation of the yuan by 2.1% on July 21 and the introduction of a managed float that theoretically lets the currency move by up to 0.3% a day against the dollar, the yuan has edged up just 0.4% against the US currency. Meanwhile, China's trade surplus tripled to more than $90 billion in the first 11 months of the year.
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