The yuan will become a key global currency in 30 years, said Chen Yulu, a monetary policy committee member at People's Bank of China.

And the liberalization of the country's capital account, covering portfolio investment and borrowing, will be achieved between 2015 and 2020.

"China needs to fulfill three steps to float the yuan worldwide," said Chen, who is also president of Beijing-based Renmin University of China, in a report about China's financial development path.

He said the country should take the first decade to achieve widespread use of the currency in neighboring countries and regions and then spend the next 10 years to float the yuan across Asia, before it becomes a major currency like the dollar.

And the liberalization of the capital account is an inevitable choice as well as long-term strategy, he said.