SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's yuan fell to its weakest level against the US dollar in more than five years on Friday (June 24) as early voting suggested Britain was on the brink of leaving the European Union, threatening the existence of the entire bloc and its single currency.

The yuan hit an intraday low of 6.6148 against the US dollar at 10.45am, its weakest since January 2011 and off more than 0.5 per cent from its close of 6.5795 on Thursday.

The British pound slumped more than 7 per cent against the US dollar as turmoil came to world markets.

With results declared from 206 of 382 voting districts plus parts of Northern Ireland, Leave was ahead by 51.3 per cent to 48.7 in the referendum at 11am.