The yuan is expected to appreciate against the US dollar in the first quarter of the next year as exports are expected to see more signs of recovery by then, analysts said.

The local currency dipped against the dollar in the last week and ended at 6.8284 last Friday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. The yuan closed at 6.8277 at the end of the previous week.

"China is likely to start to depegging the yuan to the US dollar as early as the first quarter of next year," Zhao Qingming, a senior researcher at China Construction Bank, wrote in a research report.

China will have more pressure of inflow of capital by then and also shall have a better view of economic recovery around the globe, he added.

The yuan has been kept at about 6.83 per dollar since July 2008 for export concerns.

Guotai Jun'an Securities also said in a research note that the yuan will stay around 6.7 against the dollar by the end of 2010.