China also widened the range in which the yuan was allowed to trade against the US dollar, from 0.5% to 1.0% on either side of a daily rate set by the People's Bank of China, the Chinese central bank central bank. All these moves have raised hopes that the Chinese government intends to press ahead with plans to fully liberalise its currency in the coming years. However, some analysts said that while the deal indicated that China was pressing ahead with its plans, it was unlikely that Beijing would rush to achieve that goal.

"They will only allow full convertibility of the yuan when they are confident that they have the structures and policies in place to deal with any currency fluctuation and its impact on the Chinese economy," said Mr McCarthy of CMC Markets.