CHINA'S yuan rose to the highest level since 1993 against the US dollar yesterday - just before the United States House committee hearings on China's currency policy.

The Chinese currency stood at 6.742 per dollar as of 6pm in Shanghai, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. It touched 6.725, the strongest level since the central bank unified official and market exchange rates at the end of 1993.

The yuan has appreciated 0.8 percent since last Friday, when China released its most recent trade data. The nation's trade surplus in August stood at US$20 billion, down 30.4 percent from US$28.7 billion in July, the highest since February 2009.