• The Cross-border Use of the RMB

    Remarkably in 2019, the cross-border RMB settlement amounted to RMB 19.67 trillion yuan, increasing by 24.1% on a yearly basis. The total receipts reached RMB 10.02 trillion yuan, with a notable increase of 25.1% year on year (yoy) while the total payments were RMB 9.65 trillion yuan, growing by 23% on a yearly basis. Furthermore, with a receipt to payment ratio of 1∶0.96, the cross-border RMB settlement demonstrated a net inflow of RMB 360.6 billion yuan in contrast with a net inflow of RMB 154.4 billion yuan in 2018. The cross-border RMB settlement accounted for 38.1% of the total cross-border settlement, recording a new height in history during the same period, with 5.5 percentage points higher than that of the last year.

    In 2019, the proportion of the cross-border RMB settlement with Hong Kong SAR of China was 44.9%, followed by Singapore(10.3%), Germany(3.4%), and Taiwan province of China(3.3%). Among them, the shares of Hong Kong SAR of China, Singapore, Macao SAR of China, the UK, Netherlands and Ireland witnessed an increase compared with 2018.

    In 2019, between China and the countries along the Belt and Road (B&R), the crossborder RMB settlement registered over RMB 2.73 trillion yuan, accounting for 13.9% of the total during the same period, among which the trade in goods amounted to RMB 732.5 billion yuan, the direct investment to RMB 252.4 billion yuan, and the crossborder financing to RMB 213.5 billion yuan. By the end of 2019, China had signed the bilateral local currency swap agreements with 21 countries along the B&R, and had established the RMB clearing arrangements in 8 countries along the route.

  • RMB used in trading

    1. Trade in Goods

    In 2019, the total amount of the cross-border RMB settlement of the trade in goods reached RMB 4.24 trillion yuan, increasing 16% yoy with a share of 13.4% of the total cross-border settlement under goods trade, 1.7 percentage points higher than in 2018. The RMB funds under the trade in goods showed a net inflow of RMB 46.9 billion yuan in contrast with a net outflow of RMB 396.2 billion yuan in 2018. Among them, the cross-border RMB settlement under the general trade totaled RMB 2.66 trillion yuan, increasing 20.2% yoy, and that of the imported materials processing trade totaled RMB 746.88 billion yuan, increasing 19.6% yoy.

    2. Trade in Services

    In 2019, the cross-border RMB settlement of the trade in services summed up to RMB 951.5 billion yuan, increasing 23.8% yoy and accounting for 23.8% of total cross-border settlement during the same period, increasing 3.4% yoy. The net outflow of the RMB funds under the trade in services was RMB 163.1 billion yuan, growing by enormously 74.9% yoy. Service trade settled in RMB was relatively concentrated, covering travel-related payments, tuition fees, and computer services fees.

    3. Income and Current Transfer

    In 2019, the income payments settled in RMB totaled RMB 804.8 billion yuan, increasing 23.5% yoy, while that under the current transfer aggregated RMB 37.2 billion yuan, increasing 26.6% yoy. Under the income and current transfer, the share of the cross-border RMB settlement accounted for 49.8%, increasing 6.4% yoy. The net outflow of income transfer hit RMB 638.8 billion yuan, increasing 24.1% yoy, while the net inflow of the RMB settlement under current transfer was RMB 24 billion yuan, decreasing 1.6% yoy.
     

  • RMB used in capital market

    In 2019, the cross-border RMB settlement under the capital market totaled RMB 13.62 trillion yuan with a yoy increase of 26.7%, of which receipts and payments stood at RMB 7.35 trillion yuan and RMB 6.27 trillion yuan respectively. The direct investments, securities investments and cross-border funding accounted for 20%, 70% and 7% of the total settlement under the capital accounts respectively.

  • RMB as an International Reserve Currency

    Based on IMF COFER data, the scale of RMB reserves has reached USD 217.67 billion, accounting for 1.95% of the total foreign exchange reserves of designated currencies by the end of the fourth quarter of 2019, ranking 5th and surpassing 1.88% of CAD, the highest level since the IMF published the RMB reserve assets in 2016. According to incomplete statistics, more than 70 central banks or monetary authorities incorporated the RMB into their foreign exchange reserves.

  • Central Banks Cooperation

    1.Bilateral Local Currency Settlement

    In January 2020, the PBC signed the Bilateral Local Currency Cooperation Agreement with the Bank of Lao P. D. R, expanding the scope of local currency settlement from border trade to all current and capital transactions that have been liberalized by the two countries.

    2. Bilateral Local Currency Swap

    In 2019, the PBC signed a new bilateral currency swap agreement with the Macao Monetary Authority, totaling RMB 30 billion yuan, and renewed the bilateral local currency swap agreements with the Centrale Bank van Suriname, Singapore Monetary Authority, Turkey Central Bank, European Central Bank and Hungary Central Bank, totaling RMB 683 billion yuan. By the end of 2019, the PBC has signed bilateral currency swap agreements with the central banks or monetary authorities of 39 countries and regions, covering major developed and emerging economies in the world, as well as the major offshore RMB markets, totaling more than RMB 3.7 trillion yuan.

    3. Overseas Clearing Mechanism Arrangement

    In June 2019, the PBC authorised the Mitsubishi UFJ Bank as the RMB clearing bank in Japan. In September, the PBC authorised the Manila Branch of the Bank of China as the RMB clearing bank in Philippines. By the end of 2019, the clearing arrangements have covered 25 countries and regions.

  • Offshore RMB Deposits and Loans

    By the end of 2019, the RMB deposits in Hong Kong SAR of China was RMB 632.2 billion yuan, ranking first in offshore RMB markets, with a yoy increase of 2.8%, accounting for 5.1% of the total amount of deposits and 10.3% of foreign currencies
    deposits in Hong Kong SAR of China. The RMB deposits in Taiwan, China was RMB 261 billion yuan, with a yoy decrease of 12.5%, accounting for 3.2% of the total deposits and 18.6% of foreign currencies deposits in Taiwan, China.

  • Offshore RMB Securities Financing

    In 2019, the offshore RMB-denominated bonds market rebounded. Incomplete statistics showed the total issuing scale of the RMB-denominated bonds in countries and regions where RMB clearing banks had already been established amounted to
    RMB 396.8 billion yuan in 2019, with a yoy increase of 35.4%. The RMB-denominated bonds issued in Hong Kong SAR of China amounted to RMB 166.7 billion yuan over the year, increasing by 230.4% yoy. By the end of 2019, the outstanding balance of the RMB-denominated bonds in countries and regions where RMB clearing banks had already been established amounted to RMB 457.2 billion yuan, with a yoy increase of 10.2%. The balance of the RMB-denominated Certificates of Deposits (CDs) amounted to RMB 85.7 billion yuan, with a yoy decrease of 21.7%.