Yuan closes in on Hong Kong dollar

The yuan climbed further against the dollar Monday and neared parity with the Hong Kong dollar, the Wall Street Journal reported. The US dollar traded at RMB7.8423 on Monday and as high as RMB7.8410 at one point. Since July 2005, the dollar has fallen 5.25% against the yuan. Monday's increase puts the yuan in the range of the Hong Kong dollar, which is linked to the US dollar and allowed to fluctuate between HK$7.75-7.85 to the US greenback. The continued rise of the yuan comes ahead of a visit of US cabinet officials to Beijing in December. China's exchange rate policy is expected to be a major topic during the visit expected to be led by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.