Photo taken on March 2, 2006 shows the 10-dollar notes the United States issued on the same day. Chinese exporters are increasingly seeking to settle their trade in currencies other than the U.S. dollar to hedge against fluctuations in the yuan, the International Business Daily reported Thursday. (Xinhua Photo/File)

    BEIJING, June 30 -- Domestic exporters are increasingly seeking to settle their trade in currencies other than the U.S. dollar to hedge against fluctuations in the yuan, the International Business Daily reported Thursday.

    Citing a survey by the central bank, the paper said a growing number of businesses in key manufacturing provinces, including Fujian and Guangdong, were using non-dollar currencies to make settlements.

    The paper cited a number of managers with exporting companies as saying that because they were used to using dollars and because of the smaller trading band for the dollar as compared with other currencies, they would continue to rely mainly on it, while experimenting with other currencies.

    The paper cited Mei Xinyu, a researcher at the Commerce Ministry, as saying that exporters needed to start using more currencies other than the dollar to carry out pricing and payment, to cope with the uncertainties further yuan flexibility brought with it.

    Mei suggested that companies expand their procurement of materials abroad, and even transfer some of their operations to other countries to minimize the impact of currency fluctuations.