For the first time on record, the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, decided to weaken the value of the renminbi by 1.9 percent against the US dollar on Tuesday, the Financial Times has reported.

The PBOC's decision to cut the daily reference rate triggered the Chinese currency to drop to its lowest level since April 2013 to 6.228 against the greenback, while the economy continues to experience setbacks.

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In a statement releasing the decision, the central bank said the latest cut in the daily reference rate was a one-off adjustment and assured that it will keep the local currency at a level that is reasonable.

A PBOC spokesman added that the next step would be to allow the market to play a more crucial role in determining the exchange rate in order to facilitate the balancing of global payments.

The decision on Tuesday surprised market observers who are used to the daily incremental fixes of the currency. The weakened Chinese currency immediately affected the country's foreign exchange market.

Analysts said the central bank came up with the decision after the release of a weak data over the weekend, showing the country's exports tumbling by 8.3% last month on a year-on-year basis.

A Bloomberg economist said the central bank's decision comes at a right time because the country's exports now require a competitiveness boost.

Economists further predicted falls in the local currency due to market pressure for it to weaken and the willingness of the government to allow the renminbi to fall.

Aside from creating a ripple in the local market, the currency fix also affected Asian foreign exchange markets on Tuesday, with the Australian dollar, which has long been considered as a proxy of Chinese growth, dropping as much as 1.3 percent to US$0.7320.

The South Korean won also dipped by 0.9 percent while the New Zealand dollar slipped by 1.1 percent.