they set thursday's rate at 6.4010, yan per dollar. that's down 1.1% per day. the cut is smaller than in the previous two days. the bank devalued the rate by 1.8% tuesday followed by 1.6 partly sunny wednesday. market players say the yuan could weaken even further. >>> investors around the world are watching this situation unfold. they are wondering when chinese authorities are going to let up. for more our reporter spoke with a senior fellow at the research institute. >> reporter: what is behind the decision by the chinese central bank to do this now? >> well, i think the devaluation of the currency is reasonable because china's economic fundamental is very weak and it began to slow down from two years ago. and although the central bank enforced a lot of interest in financial policies but it doesn't function, so it's reasonable, i think. >> well, so it doesn't come as a big surprise. but u.s. government officials say they will continue to urge china to make changes that will bring the currency in line with what is really happening in global markets. do you thi