BEIJING - The Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, has appreciated 34 percent against the US dollar since the exchange rate reform began eight years ago.

The central parity rate of the yuan stood at 6.17 yuan per US dollar on Monday as China marked the eighth anniversary of reform on its exchange rate regime, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trading System.

The yuan also advanced some 20 percent against the euro during this period.

The People's Bank of China, the central bank, said in a recent report that the yuan's exchange rate is close to the equilibrium level.

An equilibrium exchange rate means that the demand and supply for a currency are equal, and the price of exchanging two currencies will be stable.

China removed the yuan's peg to the greenback on July 21, 2005, and moved into a managed floating exchange rate mechanism based on market demand and supply, with reference to a basket of currencies.

The reform has over the years changed many aspects of the Chinese economy.

Zhao Qingming, a finance expert with the China Construction Bank, said China's efforts to push forward exchange rate reform have paved the way to make the yuan an international currency.

"The expectation for a rising yuan increases people's willingness to hold the yuan and settle trade in it," he said.

The central bank figures showed cross-border renminbi trade settlements in the first six months of the year totaled 2.05 trillion yuan ($334 billion), an increase of 60 percent year on year.