A depreciation of nearly 3 percent in the yuan against a basket of foreign currencies is considered "stable", the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said on Thursday.

Recent fluctuations of the Chinese currency against the basket can be defined as being "in a basically stable range," Wang Chunying, spokeswoman for the administration, said at a news briefing.

Wang's comment shed light on the accepted range the administration toward the yuan's depreciation against the basket as currency traders speculate on the level of volatility that would force the authority's intervention.