In order to benefit from growing trade relations the two largest UAE lenders Emirates NBD and National Bank of Abu Dhabi as well as Qatar's number one Qatar National Bank opened their first representative offices in the Chinese mainland in recent months. British banks Standard Chartered and HSBC also offer renminbi transactions for GCC firms through their branches in Dubai.

But London, where 37 percent of the global foreign exchange trading deals are handled also established renminbi trading in April 2012 in order to get a slice of the growing global renminbi trade.

Regarding the role of Hong Kong, Chan said that the special administrative region was not only helping to conduct trade between offshore firms and onshore firms in the Chinese mainland, but also between China and other important trade hubs in East Asia such as Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Jakarta, places with huge Chinese business communities. In fact 90 percent of China's renminbi trade is done offshore, said Chan.

Daily turnover in renminbi trade in Hong Kong grew from 5 billion Yuan in 2010 to 110 billion Yuan in 2011 and eventually reached 250 billion yuan last year, said Chan.

The CEO of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority sees the city's role in offshore renminbi for the GCC just at the beginning. The chances are high that Chan is right. Global consultancy McKinsey and Company predicts that bilateral trade between China and the Middle East will reach between $350 billion to $500 billion by 2020 with the GCC accounting for the lion' s share of this figure.

 

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