Yuan set to keep rising, US official says

The yuan has appreciated in the past two years and that pace "should continue," a top US official said on Friday.

Alan Holmer, special envoy for China and the Strategic Economic Dialogue between the US and China, said that the yuan had gained "a little over 18 percent" since July 2005.

"The accelerating rate of appreciation is significant and welcome and we believe it should continue," he told a news conference on US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's trip to China next week.

The politically charged issue of the yuan's value against the dollar will be among the issues Paulson is expected to raise at his meetings with Chinese government officials in Beijing on Wednesday and Thursday, he said.