* 1  *  *  Welcome  Dear Dr Raettig, Dear Ambassador Shi, Dear Minister Rentsch, Dear Dr Schuknecht, Dear Mr Ji, Ladies and gentlemen First of all, I would like to thank you for inviting me to speak at today’s conference on the “Internationalisation of the Renminbi – Opportunities for Frankfurt”.
I am pleased to have this opportunity to discuss the internationalisation of one of the most interesting currencies at present. Since its accession to the World Trade Organisation in 2001, China’s GDP has been growing at an average rate of 10% each year.