Usage Of Renminbi For Payments In Malaysia Gaining Momentum

KUALA LUMPUR, July 1 (Bernama) -- The use of Chinese currency, renminbi for payments in Malaysia with China and Hong Kong has increased by 68 per cent over the last 12 months and by 214 per cent over the last three years. HSBC Bank Malaysia Chief Executive Officer, Mukhtar Hussain, said Malaysia had been China's largest trading partner, as well as, China's top trading partner in ASEAN, with annual bilateral trade volume topping US$100 billion (US$1 = RM4). "With a further increase in payment settling in renminbi, it would greatly increase the size of the offshore renminbi pool," he said in a statement. HSBC Bank said the growth of the offshore market will pave the way towards ever-greater international usage of the renminbi -- in everything from cross-border payments to investment products for ordinary savers around the globe. The bank said renminbi was approaching its final frontier, which was full convertibility into a "normal" currency used by companies and individuals worldwide in the same way the US dollar is today. It said the powerful engines, which propelled the renminbi along its internationalisation path, were the Chinese authorities' commitment to capital account liberalisation and China's economic transformation towards sustained growth. "Already, an estimated 26 per cent of China's trade in goods are settled in renminbi, which is remarkable considering that the scheme for cross-border trade settlement in renminbi was launched only in 2009," it said. --BERNAMA