China's currency, the yuan, challenged the 7.71 barrier for the first time on Monday, which was the last trading day of April, according to the Chinese Foreign Exchange Trading System.

The central parity rate of the yuan, also known as Renminbi (RMB), stood at 7.7055 yuan to one U.S. dollar on Monday, gaining 84 basis points from Friday's reference rate of 7.7139 to the hard currency.

This is the seventh time in April, or the 26th time since the beginning of the year, that the yuan has set a new record, climbing 1,032 basis points, from 7.8087 yuan to one U.S. dollar posted on the last trading day of 2006.

On Monday, the yuan also gained ground against the Japanese yen. It reached 6.4441 yuan to 100 yen, up 43 basis points from the Friday's level.

But the local currency lost 86 basis points to 10.4999 yuan to one euro on the last trading day before the weeklong May Day holiday.