2011-04-02 09:31

BEIJING - China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange said Friday that the country saw a?rapid growth in cross-border renminbi trade settlements last year as more Chinese and foreign-funded companies chose to pay and be paid in renminbi, the Chinese currency.

The total cross-border renminbi transactions hit $58.7 billion in 2010, 13 times the amount of one year earlier. The increase is attributed to China's continued efforts to make the currency more international, the country's foreign-exchange regulator announced in its 2010 China international payments report.

The government decided in June last year to expand cross-border renminbi trade settlement trials from four domestic cities in Shanghai and Guangdong to a total of 20 provincial regions.

Overseas, China decided to have cross-border renminbi trade settlements with all countries and regions instead of the piloting Hong Kong and Macao regions and ASEAN nations.

The expanded pilot scheme also allowed 67,724 export-oriented companies in China to settle trade transactions in renminbi. The number of such companies was 365 in 2009.

The Chinese mainland's cross-border renminbi trade settlements with Asian countries and regions totaled $53.4 billion last year, which accounted for 91 percent of China's total amount in this regard.