A new report from China’s peak body for the banking sector points to a surge in renminbi cross-border payments in 2018.
The “Renminbi Internationalisation Report (2018)” (人民币国际化报告（2018）) released by the China Banking Association on 19 July indicates that renminbi cross-border payments totalled 15.85 trillion yuan in 2018, for a YoY increase of 46%.
According to the CBA report cross-border renminbi payments accounted for a 22.5% share of Chinese cross-border payments, making it the second biggest international payments currency in China for the eighth consecutive year.
The Chinese central bank has executed currency swap agreements with the central banks of 38 other countries or regions, while over 60 countries have included the renminbi in their official reserves.
Data from SWIFT indicates that as of the end of December 2018 the renminbi accounted for a 2.07% share of international payments, putting it fifth in the world behind the US dollar, the euro, the British pound and the Japanese yen.
