Rate change will help meet the IMF's criteria for including currency in the SDR basket

The depreciation of the Chinese yuan by around 3 percent against the United States dollar has underscored the pressure on the country's economy. It has also highlighted the commitment by authorities to market-oriented reform.

Fitch Ratings Inc, a globally-recognized statistical rating organization, sees the reform process as crucial to tackling unresolved structural weaknesses. Allowing markets a freer role at this stage will entail risks. But the authorities' calculations seem to be that the risks of doing nothing are far greater.