China's foreign exchange regulator said on Wednesday it was important to prevent big fluctuations of the Renminbi (RMB) rate against other currencies.

"It's normal that the exchange rate moves. No movement is abnormal and so is excessively large fluctuation," Deng Xianhong, deputy director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, told a press briefing.

Deng said China would "push forward with reform of the exchange rate regime in a self-initiated, gradual and controllable manner and keep the rate basically stable at a reasonable equilibrium level.

"This is beneficial not only to China, but also to the world and to tackling the global financial crisis," he said.

The currency, also known as the yuan, weakened against the US dollar for a fourth straight day on Wednesday on speculation that China will allow the yuan's depreciation to support struggling exporters.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's chief economic planning agency, said that a report quoting an agency official on the currency's movement had been "totally fabricated".

On Tuesday, the monthly journal China Briefing News published are port quoting NDRC vice chairman Zhang Xiaoqiang as saying that the yuan could weaken to about 6.9 to 7 against the US dollar. However, the NDRC said in a statement on Wednesday that the report was "totally fabricated".

The central parity rate was 6.8363 yuan per US dollar on Wednesday, compared with 6.8352 on Tuesday.

(Xinhua News Agency February 18, 2009)