BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese currency, or the yuan, on Thursday strengthened 28 basis points against the U.S. dollar from Wednesday.

The central parity rate was set at 6.569 yuan per U.S. dollar, compared with 6.5718 yuan per U.S. dollar on Wednesday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trading system.

The central parity rate of the yuan hit a record high of 6.5651 against the U.S.dollar on March 7.

China's central bank announced on June 19 last year that it would reform the yuan exchange rate formation mechanism to improve its flexibility.

On China's foreign exchange spot market, the yuan can rise or fall 0.5 percent from the central parity rate each trading day.

The central parity rate of the RMB against the U.S. dollar is based on a weighted average of prices before the opening of the market each business day.