You have to admire Beijing's timing.
On Saturday the People's Bank of China announced it would widen the daily trading band of China's currency. From today, the yuan will be allowed to fluctuate by as much as 1 per cent either side of a central reference rate against the US dollar, double the width of the previous trading range.
By itself, the move is not especially significant. It has long been expected. And although a wider trading range allows for a little extra movement in the yuan's exchange rate, it doesn't necessarily follow that we will see a big increase in the currency's intraday volatility.
After all, the yuan has been allowed to move as much as 0.5 per cent either side of its reference rate for five years now, but as the first accompanying chart shows, the exchange rate has seldom fluctuated by anything like as much.
Certainly a wider trading band does not mean the yuan will be free to float like other major currencies. The central bank will continue to control the yuan's exchange rate by setting its daily reference rate and by intervening in the foreign exchange market to nudge the currency in the direction it desires.
Nevertheless, Saturday's announcement is important because it represents one more incremental step in the gradual liberalisation of China's currency regime.