The People's Bank of China (PBoC) has devaluated the yuan for the third day. The PBoC has defended its decision to devaluate the yuan.

The yuan depreciated 1.9% on Tuesday, 1.6% on Wednesday and 1.1% today. China's central bank set Thursday's daily fixing at 6.4010 per U.S. dollar, down from 6.3306 on Wednesday.

The PBoC said on Tuesday that it was a "one-off depreciation".

The central bank tried to reassure market participants on Thursday, saying there was no basis for further yuan devaluation.

A weaker yuan could lead to capital outflows from China. The PBoC Governor Yi Gang said that the central bank will ensure "orderly" cross-border capital flows, adding that capital inflows and outflows were "basically balanced."

China wants to open the country's foreign-exchange markets to foreign institutions and to extend foreign-exchange trading hours. The yuan traded at a big discount in Hong Kong.