The Chinese currency Renminbi (RMB), or the yuan, on Thursday strengthened 41 basis points to 6.5695 per U.S. dollar, a record high, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trading System.

Thursday's central parity rate of the RMB against U.S. dollar was 10 basis points lower than the previous record of 6.5705 set on Feb. 21, 2011.

The yuan has appreciated 3.78 percent since June 19 last year when the People's Bank of China, the central bank, announced it would further reform the 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 for each business day.