An employee at a bank counter in Nantong, Jiangsu province, counts renminbi and dollars. [Photo/China Daily]

NEW YORK -- The People's Bank of China announced Tuesday that Bank of China is designated as the RMB clearing bank in the United States.

This represents another critical milestone in the process of RMB internationalization, and a step forward for Sino-US financial cooperation.

Bank of China is now the designated RMB clearing bank in 11 countries and regions, namely, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Germany, France, Australia, Malaysia, Hungary, South Africa, Zambia and the United States, offering 24/7 RMB clearing services across the globe with its RMB clearing network that covers five continents.

As the world's largest economy, the United States is an important market for the RMB to "go global." In September 2015, China and the United States reached an agreement to further facilitate the use of the RMB in business. It was announced at the conclusion of the Eighth Session of the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue that RMB trading and clearing capabilities in the US will be further developed and RMB Clearing Banks in the US established.

Analysts believe that the designation of Bank of China as the RMB clearing bank in the United States will further facilitate RMB usage in the United States and cross-border transactions, and bring two-way trade, investment and economic cooperation to new heights.

Since its debut in the United States in 1930s, the Bank of China's New York Branch, formally established in 1981, has become the largest Chinese bank in the United States, with assets over $50 billion by the end of 2015.