The Chinese currency's steady ascent against the dollar appears to have ended, dealing a blow to already cloudy prospects for U.S. exporters and complicating ties between Washington and Beijing.

In three years from July 2005, when China first allowed the yuan to rise, the Chinese currency gained almost 20 percent against the dollar. That made Chinese products more expensive in dollar terms and effectively cut the price of U.S. goods in China.

But the yuan plateaued against the greenback starting in mid-July and earlier this week had its sharpest one-day drop since 2005. The sudden dip came just days before Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and other Cabinet members arrived in Beijing for twice-yearly economic talks.

With Chinese officials publicly worrying about the global recession's impact upon their factories, authorities are likely to prevent further currency moves that would raise exporters' costs.

"The way they see it is: Enough is enough for now," says Eswar Prasad, a former International Monetary Fund economist now with the Brookings Institution.

Paulson said before arriving in Beijing on Thursday that he would press Chinese officials for additional yuan gains. But he was greeted by Chinese officials more interested in lecturing than being lectured. Wang Qishan, China's vice premier, urged U.S. officials to tackle their own economic problems and said China would focus on continuing to grow amid the global downturn.

China's economy already has slowed sharply from a near 12 percent annual growth rate in mid-2007, and the World Bank forecasts 7.5 percent growth next year. With both Europe and the United States facing prolonged recessions, Chinese officials are increasingly fearful of job-killing fallout from the global recession.