Yuan’s international usage remains stable: report

2018-08-19
Xinhua

BEIJING — International usage of Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, remains stable despite a sharp fall in the offshore exchange rate, according to a new report by Bank of China (BOC).

In June, the yuan remained in 5th place in the currency rankings for global payments with a share of 1.81 percent, BOC said in its Offshore RMB Express report citing data from SWIFT, a global financial institution network.

Currently, Hong Kong is the key offshore market for yuan payments, accounting for 75.98 percent of renminbi trading volume.

Total turnover via the Real Time Gross Settlements (RTGS) clearing system reached 21.46 trillion yuan (about $3.11 trillion), up 10 percent month on month and 38.7 percent year on year, the report showed.

China’s domestic capital market’s opening continues at a steady pace, BOC said.

As of July 31, the quota in the RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (RQFII) program came in at 622.1 billion yuan, data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed.

So far, 19 countries and regions have obtained RQFII quotas, totaling 1.94 trillion yuan, according to the report.