SHANGHAI/SINGAPORE, Sept 8 (Reuters) - With China's economy gradually recovering, there should be a little more confidence in the yuan exchange rate, a state-owned newspaper said on Friday, even as the currency slipped to 16-year lows.

"The process of economic recovery in the post-COVID era will not be accomplished overnight and it requires policy support," the official Securities Times said in a commentary.

"But with gradual recovery of the broad economy, there can be a little more confidence and calm with the yuan exchange rate," the paper said.

China's yuan, among the worst performing in Asia, has lost more than 6% so far this year. It eased to 7.3478 per dollar on Friday, the weakest since December 2007.

The U.S. dollar index is expected to remain strong in the short term, making it difficult for the yuan to significantly rebound, but chances of more sustained weakness are not high, the commentary said.

"With more precise and effective policy reinforcement, and the resilience of the economy, the economic fundamentals that determine the value of the exchange rate are strengthening."

The yuan has come under pressure from a property slump, weak consumer spending, shrinking credit growth, and divergent monetary policy with other major economies, particularly the United States.

China remains an outlier among global central banks, having cut interest rates to shore up a stalling recovery while others have raised them to combat inflation. (Reporting by Winni Zhou and Tom Westbrook; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)