The Chinese renminbi, or yuan, weakened Thursday against the US dollar after the US Federal Reserve decided to raise interest rates for the first time this year. 
The central parity rate of the renminbi weakened 261 basis points to 6.9289 against the US dollar Thursday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trading System. 
The Federal Reserve Wednesday raised the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points, the first and only time in 2016, and indicated a faster rate hike pace next year, according to (Xinhua) news agency. 
The Fed released its updated economic projections indicating that the central bank expects to raise rates three times next year, compared with the two times suggested in its September projections. 
Analysts said that with a rate-hike largely priced in before Wednesday, the greenback was supported by speculations of more rate-hikes next year. 
As the Chinese economy maintains medium-high growth, the renminbi has the conditions to remain basically stable, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). 
In China's spot foreign exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by 2% from the central parity rate each trading day. 
The central parity rate of the yuan against the US dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day.