BEIJING, Nov. 9 (AP) -- China's yuan rose to a new high the U.S. dollar on Thursday to its highest level since Beijing revalued the currency 16 months ago.

The yuan's appreciation, while still gradual, has been accelerating recently. Almost every week, it hits new highs against the dollar.

Thursday's rate of 7.8697 to dollar broke the high set Wednesday, when the yuan closed at 7.8661 on China's tightly controlled currency markets.

Since Beijing cut its direct link to the U.S. currency on July 21, 2005, the yuan has gained about 3 percent.

But the United States and other trading partners are pushing for a faster rise, saying a weak yuan is contributing to China's bulging trade surplus by making Chinese exports cheaper and more competitive.

China's global trade gap hit US$23.8 billion (€17.1 billion) in October, a record for any month, bringing its surplus for the first 10 months of the year to US$133.6 billion (€96.2 billion), already exceeding the US$102 billion surplus for all of 2005.

The Chinese central bank allows the dollar-yuan rate to move no more than 0.3 percent in daily trading.