The China Securities Journal, an official newspaper, said on Tuesday that China should allow its currency to rise more quickly in the near term to repel imported inflationary pressure from soaring oil prices.

Oil prices have stayed high as spreading unrest in the Middle East intensified concerns about potential threats to the region's oil supply and UN-mandated air strikes kept flow reduced from OPEC member Libya.

Some Chinese forex dealers said the weak dollar also paved the way for the central bank to let the yuan rise slightly, but they did not see a sharp rise in the near term on the prospect that imports would continue to surge, attracting more dollar demand.

The dollar index, which tracks its performance against a basket of major currencies, was at 75.4 midday on Tuesday Beijing time, hovering near a 16-month low.

"The dollar's weakness is part of the reason for the yuan rise, as well as some domestic reasons, such as inflation," said a dealer at a Chinese commercial bank in Shenzhen.

The yuan traded in a narrow range from 6.5579, a record high, to 6.5596, and was at 6.5580 versus the dollar by midday, up from Monday's close of 6.5611.

The currency has now risen around 4.1 percent since it was depegged in June 2010, and 0.2 percent so far this week.

Before trading began, the PBOC fixed the yuan's mid-point at a record high of 6.5592 to the dollar, versus Monday's 6.5632.

The PBOC uses the fixing, from which the dollar/yuan exchange rate may rise or fall 0.5 percent each day, to express the government's intentions for the currency.

Benchmark one-year dollar/yuan non-deliverable forwards (NDF) were bid at 6.4260 by midday on Monday, down slightly from 6.4320 at Monday's close. Their implied yuan appreciation in a year's time rose to 2.1 percent from Monday's 2.0 percent.