On November 7, 2013, BOC held an online news conference to release BOC Cross-border RMB Index (CRI) in Q3 in Beijing, Hong Kong and London. According to BOC, CRI in Q3 recorded 190 points, rising slightly over Q2 and reaching a historical new high.
BOC analysis of CRI indicates that, Q3 witnessed obviously faster cross-border RMB outflow compared with Q2, which is quite favorable for RMB circulation in offshore markets. In this year, the activity degree of RMB circulation displays an ascending trend in offshore markets.
In Hong Kong, the largest offshore RMB market by far, the amount of RMB settlements reached RMB2.6 trillion in the first three quarters, a year-on-year increase of 36% over 2012;the balance of RMB loans recorded RMB110.5 billion in mid-2013, an increase of 40% over the RMB79 billion at the yearend of 2012; the balance of Dim Sum Bonds in RMB registered RMB310 billion, up 25% over 2012; the daily average transaction volume in Hong Kong offshore RMB market (including spot and forward transactions) is equivalent to USD10 billion; RMB insurance, RMB ETF, RMB futures and RMB stocks have been launched in the market. Over 210 banks are involved in Hong Kong RMB clearing network, and the daily average amount of transactions via the platform jumped from RMB5 billion in 2010 to over RMB400 billion, more than 90% of which are contributed by offshore transactions, marking the increasing offshore RMB financial activities and expanding scope and depth of RMB market.
London, one of the most important international financial centers in the world, made great progress in RMB business. According to BOC London Branch, London as world’s largest foreign exchange market undertakes 60% of the foreign exchange transaction volume outside Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong, and has overtaken Singapore since June 2012 in terms of RMB payment, ranking next to Hong Kong and provided important support for consolidating RMB as an international payment currency. The 5th China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) concluded in last month with 59 achievements, including direct RMB-GBP transaction between London and Shanghai. After the 5th EFD, the RMB market in London is expected to expand. Taking the bilateral economic and trade cooperation as an example, in 2012, the trade volume between China and UK valued USD63.1 billion, of which less than 10% were settled in RMB. If the target of USD100 billion in 2015 is achieved and the share of RMB settlement improved, the RMB flow under trade in London market will be greatly increased and the market be further expanded.
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