Yuan edges down vs dollar after weaker mid-point

* Chinese central bank sets mid-point at one-month low

* U.S. welcomes yuan rise so far, wants more

* Central bank vice-governor reaffirms stable yuan policy

SHANGHAI, Oct 27 - Spot yuan dipped against the dollar on Tuesday after the Chinese central bank set the yuan's mid-point at a one-month low and the United States said it sought more progress on yuan appreciation.

The United States welcomed the rise in the yuan's exchange rate in recent years but would like China to let the yuan rise further, visiting Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said on Tuesday.

"We think more progress needs to be made in that area," Locke told a news conference in Guangzhou, the capital of southern Guangdong province.

"The central bank has said they would keep the yuan stable more than once, so the news has little impact on yuan appreciation," said a dealer at a European bank in Shanghai.

Indeed, the People's Bank of China vice-governor Yi Gang said in a reiteration of official policy late on Monday that China would keep the yuan exchange rate basically stable.

Spot yuan was trading at 6.8288 at midday on Tuesday, slightly weaker than Monday's close of 6.8278.

Before trade began, the Chinese central bank fixed the yuan's daily mid-point, or reference rate, at 6.8284 versus the dollar, hitting a one-month low and slightly weaker than Monday's 6.8280.

Dealers said today's mid-point was in line with the dollar's rise overnight, and gains in the U.S. currency were likely welcomed by the central bank in helping to confine the yuan mid-point within a relatively narrow range so as to help exports.

Offshore, benchmark one-year dollar/yuan non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) rose to 6.6740 bid at midday on Tuesday compared with Monday's close of 6.6420.

Twelve-month yuan appreciation implied by NDFs, which moves inversely with the forwards, fell slightly to 2.31 percent measured from the Chinese central bank's daily mid-point, compared with 2.80 percent implied at Monday's close.