Dec. 30 (Bloomberg) -- The yuan may appreciate as much as 3 percent against the dollar next year as the central bank seeks to stem capital outflows, according to China Guangfa Bank Co.

The yuan may return to a path of “slow appreciation” in the second quarter as the nation may continue to have a trade surplus in 2012, the Guangzhou-based lender said in a report e-mailed to Bloomberg News today.

The yuan gained 0.1 percent to 6.3113 per dollar as of 12:13 p.m. in Shanghai, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. It gained 4.4 percent in 2011, the biggest advance among Asia’s 10 most-traded currencies excluding the yen, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

--Judy Chen. Editors: Ven Ram, Simon Harvey

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Judy Chen in Shanghai at xchen45@bloomberg.net.

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To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sandy Hendry at shendry@bloomberg.net.