People’s Bank of China (PBOC) set the USD/CNY central rate at 6.9646 on Friday, versus Thursday's fix of 6.9793 and market expectations of 6.9653. 

It's worth noting that the USD/CNY closed near 6.9650 the previous day, trading near the same by the press time.

“With 2 billion Yuan worth of reverse repos maturing on Thursday, China central bank injects 181 billion Yuan on a net basis on the day,” mentioned Reuters.

Given the Chinese central bank's latest Open Market Operations (OMO), the policymakers marked the biggest weekly cash injectionsm, of around 975 billion Yuan, since January 2019.

About the fix

China maintains strict control of the yuan’s rate on the mainland.

The onshore yuan (CNY) differs from the offshore one (CNH) in trading restrictions, this last one is not as tightly controlled.

Each morning, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) sets a so-called daily midpoint fix, based on the yuan’s previous day's closing level and quotations taken from the inter-bank dealer.