China's yuan slides in value after Beijing alters currency controls in the wake of weak trade

BEIJING – China's tightly controlled currency, the yuan, has slid by an unusually large margin after Beijing altered its exchange rate policy following a slump in trade.

The central bank said Tuesday's fall was the result of a change aimed at making its exchange rate controls more market-oriented.

The currency fell 1.3 percent against the U.S. dollar from Monday's rate. That was small compared with the daily fluctuations of some other major currencies but the yuan's biggest one-day decline in a decade.

The announcement comes after July exports contracted by an unexpectedly large margin of 8.3 percent from a year earlier, possibly hurt by a strong yuan that makes Chinese goods more expensive in foreign markets.