The Yuan has reached new levels against the U.S. Dollar on Thursday at a central parity rate of 7.7386 Yuan per Dollar, according to a Chinese forex-trading system. The Yuan has risen by 701 basis points since the beginning of 2007 from 7.8087 Yuan against the U.S. Dollar on December 29, 2006. The appreciation is thought to have been triggered by the weak U.S. Dollar in international markets. In conjunction with the weak U.S. Dollar, China's huge foreign reserves is considered as a major factor in the appreciation. The U.S. Treasury secretary Henry Paulson set off on his third trip to China in seven months to prepare for the second meeting of the China-U.S. Strategic economic dialogue which is scheduled for May in Washington.