BEIJING, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- China's currency, the yuan, hit a new high against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, according to the Chinese Foreign Exchange Trading System.

The central parity rate of the yuan, also known as Renminbi (RMB), stood at 7.4119 yuan to one U.S. dollar on Thursday, gaining 31 basis points from Wednesday's reference rate of 7.4150.

Previous record, 7.4140 yuan to one U.S. dollar, was set on Nov. 12.

The local currency Thursday climbed 3,968 basis points, or 5.08percent, from 7.8087 yuan to one U.S. dollar posted on the last trading day of 2006.

The accumulative appreciation since July 21, 2005, when China discontinued yuan's peg to the greenback, has surpassed nine percent.

Last Sunday, China's central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan said if necessary, the nation will consider widening the yuan's trading band.

But any change in the yuan's floating band will depend on the global economic situation and it's not the only tool the country would use to make its currency more flexible, Zhou said at the Group of 20 meeting in Cape Town, South Africa.

China widened the yuan's daily trading band against the U.S. dollar from plus or minus 0.3 percent to 0.5 percent in May.

On Thursday, the yuan also gained ground against the British pound, but lost 154 basis points from the previous trading day to stand a central parity rate of 11.0070 yuan against one euro, and lost 747 basis points to 6.8303 yuan against 100 Japanese yen.