Cross-Border Yuan Settlements Surge to Record High

What’s new: Cross-border settlements in the Chinese currency totaled 28.39 trillion yuan ($4.39 trillion) in 2020, up 44.3% from the previous year, according to the People’s Bank of China.

Yuan settlements accounted for 46.2% of overall cross-border settlements, 8 percentage points higher than in 2019 and reaching a record high, the central bank said.

The expansion of cross-border yuan settlements is continuing this year. In the first half, the amount totaled 17.57 trillion yuan, accounting for 48.2% of total cross-border settlements. That was 2.4 percentage points higher than in the same period last year.

More to know: China has stepped up efforts to promote international use of the yuan with a series of reform measures in a bid to reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar in trade and investment settlements.

The central bank said China will explore more options for yuan-denominated investment and financing, step up currency settlement cooperation with other countries and improve the infrastructure for yuan settlement and clearing.

China recently kicked off a cross-border wealth management investment pilot program in the Greater Bay Area and expanded a bond connect program linking the mainland and Hong Kong.

Quick Takes are condensed versions of China-related stories for fast news you can use. To read the full story in Chinese, click here.

Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bobsimison@caixin.com)

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