According to market participants, a third of China’s total trade will be settled in its currency by 2015. In addition, several other important developments have increased the usage of renminbi for investment purposes: (i) the currency is already available to the corporate sector.
Apart from accumulating the currency through trade, companies can also issue renminbi-denominated bonds in Hong Kong (also known as dim sum bonds) and borrow renminbi directly from banks in Hong Kong; (ii) the PBoC has already concluded currency swap agreements with 24 foreign central banks, totalling about CNY 2.6 trillion (around € billion).