Chinese yuan strengthens to 6.7766 against USD Thursday

The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 3 pips to 6.7766 against the U.S. dollar Thursday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.

In China's spot foreign exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by 2 percent from the central parity rate each trading day.

The central parity rate of the yuan against the U.S. dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has reported over 6,700 confirmed Ebola cases, with a severe hunger crisis in the country compounding difficulties in outbreak response, health authorities and aid agencies warned on Wednesday.

According to data released Wednesday by the DRC's National Institute of Public Health, the current Ebola outbreak has claimed 3,267 lives out of the 6,757 confirmed cases, resulting in a fatality rate of about 48.3 percent.

In the past 24 hours alone, 71 new cases and 41 deaths were reported. A total of 27 patients recovered from their illness, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 1,590.

The outbreak has now spread to 61 health zones across six provinces: Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele, Bas-Uele and Tshopo. Ituri Province remains the epicenter of the crisis, accounting for roughly 80 percent of all confirmed cases.

Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Wednesday that a severe hunger crisis in eastern DRC is exacerbating the challenges of containing the disease.

David Stevenson, WFP Country Director for the DRC, highlighted the dire situation in Ituri Province, where more than half a million people are currently facing severe food insecurity.

"That's one notch short of mortality from starvation," he said.

Stevenson emphasized that hunger undermines people's willingness and ability to adhere to health protocols. He also warned that many Ebola patients, particularly those in remote areas, lose their chance of survival simply because they are too far away from lifesaving treatment centers.

The WFP urges the international community to increase financial support, build more treatment centers, and deliver food assistance to remote areas.

The U.N. agency calls for a comprehensive approach that integrates food assistance with medical services and community-based prevention efforts to effectively contain the outbreak.