Malaysia has a comparative advantage in this area. The Malaysian bond market is the largest in the ASEAN region, and it is the leading global centre for sukuk issuance. The regulatory framework and supporting infrastructure for bond issuances here is comprehensive. In the past, many 3/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  foreign corporations including multinationals have issued bonds and sukuk out of Malaysia. With the increased financing requirement by Chinese companies for infrastructure development throughout the Asian region, estimated to be more than USD1 trillion in the initial stage, investment banks should seize the business opportunities in bonds origination, distribution, investment and trading services. Our markets have already seen issuances of ‘dim sum’ bonds which were highly successful, such as the previous Axiata and Cagamas issuances. 4. Fourth, is to offer competitive trade financing and settlement services. From our industry engagements through Bank Negara Malaysia’s Financial Markets Committee, a key area that we need to strengthen in support of our international and regional trade is trade financing. Given the importance of China to us in this, renminbi trade financing should be given special attention. For corporations which trade predominantly with China, there are many benefits to settle trade in renminbi, in particular, lower foreign exchange conversion costs and greater access to new markets in China.
Since 2015, eight countries including Malaysia had been granted with RQFII quotas; bringing the total available quotas to more than RMB1.4 trillion. In addition, clearing banks across nine countries were introduced since then, adding up to 21 clearing banks worldwide. The increased availability of renminbi globally was evident, with more than sixty central banks and sovereign wealth funds reported to have invested part of their reserves and assets into renminbi, reflecting the broad appeal of the currency: the latest BIS triennial survey in April 2016 showed the renminbi daily turnover reached USD202 billion, almost double the size recorded three years ago, and even more phenomenal when considering it was just around USD34 billion in 2010. The renminbi’s market share globally increased from 2% to 4%, still a small percentage, but is now the eighth most actively traded currency in the world. The sizable pool of offshore renminbi deposit of RMB1.8 trillion has also spurred the growth of renminbi-denominated bonds issued outside China, known as dim sum bonds, while steps are taken to develop the panda bond market within China. Developments of renminbi business in Malaysia Continued growth and investment from China In ASEAN, Malaysia continues to be among China’s largest trading partners. From Malaysia’s perspective, China is our largest trading partner. In 2015, total trade between the two countries expanded by 11.1% to RM230.1 billion, representing 16% of our total trade.