BEIJING, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- The value of the Renminbi (RMB) yuan against the U.S. dollar hit a new high Thursday, with the central parity rate at 7.8596 yuan to one dollar, breaking the 7.86 mark, according to the Chinese Foreign Exchange Trade System.

    The appreciation followed previous records on Nov. 1 when the central parity rate hit 7.8720, Nov. 8 when it was 7.8719, and Nov. 9 when it was 7.8697, breaking the 7.87 mark, and Nov. 13, 7.8644.

    The exchange rate was about 8.28 yuan per U.S. dollar for quite a long time before China's reform of the exchange rate system on July 21, 2005.

    The government launched the reform in July last year to allow the yuan to float against the U.S. dollar within a daily 0.3 percent band from the official central parity rate.

    Tan Yaling, research fellow with the China International Economic Relation Association under the central bank attributes the appreciation to the market confidence with the currency.

    She said that soaring foreign exchange reserves and the rocketing foreign trade surplus along with the eased market environment bring forth the investors with a bright business prospect.

    China's foreign exchange reserves were on the track to hit one trillion U.S. dollars after climbing to 987.9 billion U.S. dollars by the end of September, with a monthly average increase of 18.7 billion U.S. dollars for the first nine months.