KUNMING - The cumulative amount of cross-border renminbi settlements in Southwest China's Yunnan province reached approximately 69.6 billion yuan ($10.9 billion) in 2021, according to a local branch of the country's central bank.

The figure marked a year-on-year surge of 5.1 percent, according to the Kunming Central Sub-branch of the People's Bank of China in Kunming, the provincial capital.

Of the total, the cross-border renminbi settlements under current accounts logged 40.3 billion yuan, down 17 percent year-on-year. This was mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic dragging down the trade settlement volume between Yunnan and Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand.

Settlements under capital accounts reached 29.3 billion yuan, up 65.3 percent year-on-year, driven by the substantial increase in direct investment and the cross-border financing settlement of enterprises.

Yunnan began piloting cross-border renminbi settlements in 2010. Since then, the network has covered 16 cities and prefectures, and 21 border checkpoints, radiating to South and Southeast Asia.

By 2021, Yunnan's accumulated renminbi settlement business with 106 countries and regions worldwide had reached 658 billion yuan.