China's central bank has set the official midpoint reference for the yuan weaker than 7 per US dollar for the first time since 2008.

The central parity rate of the yuan weakened 43 basis points to 7.0039 against the US dollar on Thursday, lower for its sixth consecutive day.

On Wednesday, the central parity rate of the yuan was set at 6.9996 against the greenback.

The exchange rate of the onshore yuan market ended at 7.0602 per dollar at Wednesday's close.

The US' labeling of China as a currency manipulator has no grounds and does not accord with facts, China's foreign exchange regulator said, as reported by the Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday.

Wang Chunying, spokesperson for the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, China's foreign exchange regulator, said Wednesday that the US' action will seriously worsen the global economic and trade environment and will hurt global growth.

China will keep its foreign exchange management policies stable and consistent, according to Wang.

Analysts said the exchange rate still has depreciation room toward 7.1 with fluctuation range between 6.9 and 7.2, while betting on the yuan as a strong currency in the long term.

Mei Xinyu, a veteran analyst close to the Ministry of Commerce, told the Global Times on Thursday that two-way fluctuation is expected to last for quite a period with the central bank reducing its interference. 

"Further depreciation will not be very fast to the 7.1 or 7.2 levels, and it's hard to stay at those two points for a time," said Mei. 

"It will not take long time before the rate returns to below 7," said Mei

Global Times