Cross-border Renminbi Trade Increases in 2010

China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange said Friday that the country saw rapid growth in cross-border renminbi trade settlements last year as more Chinese and foreign-funded companies chose to pay and be paid in renminbi, the Chinese currency.

Total cross-border renminbi transactions hit 58.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2010, 13 times the amount of one year earlier. The increase is attributed to China's continued efforts to make the currency more international, the country's foreign-exchange regulator announced in its 2010 China international payments report.

The government decided in June last year to expand cross-border renminbi trade settlement trials from four domestic cities in Shanghai and Guangdong to a total of 20 provincial regions.

Overseas, China decided to have cross-border renminbi trade settlements with all countries and regions instead of the piloting Hong Kong and Macao regions and ASEAN nations.

The expanded pilot scheme also allowed 67,724 export-oriented companies in China to settle trade transactions in renminbi. The number of such companies was 365 in 2009.

The Chinese mainland's cross-border renminbi trade settlements with Asian countries and regions totaled 53.4 billion U.S. dollars last year, which accounted for 91 percent of China's total amount in this regard.