Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Monday that it is unfair that some countries demand appreciation of China's currency while practicing protectionism against China, and such actions are in fact aimed at containing China's development.

Wen made the remarks during the 12th China-EU summit, which opened in the east China city of Nanjing Monday.

Maintaining a stable yuan during the global financial crisis would not only benefit China's economic development, but also be conducive to world economic recovery, he said.

"China will further improve the yuan exchange rate formation mechanism, acting on its own initiative and in a controllable and gradual manner, and keep the yuan exchange rates basically stable at a reasonable and balanced level," he said.

China had maintained the stability of the yuan, making an important contribution to global financial stability and economic development, Wen said when speaking with three Euro Group leaders Sunday.

The central parity rate of the yuan, or Renminbi (RMB), was 6.8272 per U.S. dollar on Monday, compared with 6.8269 per dollar on the previous trading day, according to China Foreign Exchange Trading System.

The daily central parity rate for the yuan against U.S. dollar is the weighted average of prices given by market makers, excluding the highest and lowest offers in the calculation. The currency is allowed to float on the interbank market within a daily limit of 0.5-percent each way.

China unpegged the yuan from the U.S. dollar in July 2005 and allowed it to fluctuate against a basket of currencies. It gained 21 percent before stabilizing against the dollar in the middle of last year.