China’s central bank has just weakened the renminbi for a fifth straight session, adding further pressure for the currency to weaken against the strengthening US dollar.

For the first time since May 2011, the People’s Bank of China has set the daily “fix” for the renminbi “above” 6.5 per dollar. The fix was softened by 0.15 per cent to 6.5032 per dollar.

China allowed its tightly controlled currency to fall 4.64 per cent against the US dollar last year, after a 2.51 per cent decline in 2014. While it’s tempting to say China “pushed” the currency lower by softening the daily fixes, the reality is that the PBoC has been spending billions of dollars worth of foreign exchange exchange reserves to prop the currency up, as the economy slows and Chinese people and companies exchange renminbi for other currencies.