THE Chinese yuan is likely to appreciate this week as it is likely that inflation will rise further in the fourth quarter, analysts said.

The currency settled at 7.5030 against the US dollar on Friday, up from 7.5160 a week earlier.

It has appreciated 9.38 percent since the fixed exchange rate of 8.28 to the US dollar was abandoned on July 21, 2005.

About 61 percent of the 20,000 households in 50 cities nationwide said they see consumer prices to continue to rise towards the year's end, a quarterly survey by the central bank showed last week. The ratio, a record, was 11.1 percentage points higher than a quarter earlier.