Opening Of The European Offshore Renminbi Centre

RMB Internationalization Great progress was made in June. After the establishment of RMB clearing bank in London and Frankfurt, the most important financial center in Europe, yesterday, the people's Bank of China said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bank of France (Central Bank of France) and the Central Bank of Luxemburg to establish RMB clearing arrangements. In the future, the Central Bank of the three countries will also separately determine Paris and Luxemburg's RMB clearing bank. This also means that the competition for RMB offshore trading center will further intensify.

The relevant people in charge of the people's Bank of China said that the establishment of the relevant RMB clearing arrangements would be conducive to the use of RMB in cross-border transactions between Chinese and French enterprises and financial institutions, and further promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation. Analysts said that with the accession of France and Luxemburg, the competition for the RMB offshore center in Europe will become fiercer.

This year, RMB The pace of internationalization is accelerating, especially RMB clearing business in Europe. The Central Bank of China has recently authorized the Bank of China Frankfurt branch to act as Frankfurt's renminbi business. Liquidation OK, authorized the China Construction Bank (601939, stock bar) (London) Limited as the clearing bank of the RMB business in London.

Compared with the mature US dollar cross-border liquidation business, the transaction volume of the RMB international clearing network is still small. At present, the RMB overseas liquidation network is mainly divided into two pilot models, "clearing bank" and "agent bank". The current international market is also mainly through the clearing bank mode.

At present, there are RMB clearing banks in China, including Hongkong, Macao, Taiwan and Singapore, Britain, Germany and the United States. Since the RMB business in Hongkong started earlier, more than 70% of the international RMB clearing business has been completed through Hongkong.

Analysts say that from several European cities, London is most likely to become the main offshore RMB financial market in Europe with the largest foreign exchange trading center in the world. According to a report released in 2013 by the global bank Financial Telecommunication Association, London accounts for 62% of RMB transactions in the mainland and outside Hongkong, far exceeding the US, France and Singapore, which account for only 15%, 10% and 8% respectively.