Yuan seen staying strong near term

The Chinese currency renminbi is expected to stay strong against the US dollar in the short term, having risen 2.8 percent by the end of January and 6.3 percent in 2017, said Liu Gang, an analyst at China International Capital Corporation Ltd or CICC.

"There are three main reasons that caused the appreciation of the RMB," Fan Ruoying, a researcher with the Institute of International Finance, a wing of Bank of China, told Economic Information Daily.

One, the dollar meltdown. Two, China's economic strength with GDP up 6.9 percent in 2017, the first such annual rise since 2010, on the back of supply-side reforms. Three, investor optimism about the prospects for the yuan, which is encouraging them to increase their holdings of the Chinese currency.