BEIJING, July 11 (Xinhua) -- China's currency, the yuan, on Friday broke the 6.84-mark to set a new high against the weakening U.S. dollar for the second consecutive day.

    The central parity rate of the yuan, or Renminbi (RMB), was set at 6.8397 yuan against the dollar, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trading System. The reference rate was up 92 basis points from the previous trading day.

    The yuan has risen more than 6.65 percent against the U.S. dollar so far this year, in comparison with the 6.9-percent gain last year, and has broken its own record value 53 times.

    Market observers said Thursday's depreciation of the U.S. dollar was due largely to concerns about aggravated impact from the U.S credit crisis. U.S. Treasury chief Henry Paulson earlier called for regulatory changes to allow financial firms to fail without threatening market stability. It was believed the remarks increased the concerns.

    On Friday, the Renminbi lost 279 basis points against the euro to 10.8002 yuan, but gained 167 basis points against 100 Japanese yen to 6.3913 yuan.