GUANGZHOU - The cross-border RMB settlement in Guangdong reached 20 trillion yuan ($2.85 trillion) over the past 10 years ending in October, according to the Guangzhou branch of the People's Bank of China (PBOC).

Guangdong contributed to 22 percent of the country's cross-border RMB business volume, making RMB the second-largest cross-border payment currency in the province for eight consecutive years, it said.

In July 2009, China approved a pilot program for cross-border trade settlement in RMB, embarking on the internationalization process of the Chinese currency.

The cross-border RMB settlement in Guangdong surged to 3.2 trillion yuan in 2018 from 1.5 billion yuan in 2009. More than 90,000 companies, or over 80 percent of all foreign-oriented businesses in Guangdong, have enjoyed the RMB settlement service.

The PBOC branch said it encourages businesses to conduct cross-border RMB settlement to reduce risks from bigger exchange rate fluctuations.

In the January-October period, Guangdong's cross-border RMB settlement in goods and services trade reached 1.5 trillion yuan. The figure accounted for 25 percent of all cross-border local and foreign currency settlements in Guangdong, an increase by 5.1 percentage points from 2018.