Giant rise in global yuan use

A new index, started to track offshore yuan business worldwide, has shown that the currency's international use has grown more than seven-fold over the past two years.

The Renminbi Globalization Index was introduced in Hong Kong on Wednesday by Standard Chartered Bank, along with the results of a survey conducted among top managers of companies across Asia and Europe, which showed that 76 percent of the respondents polled were either conducting yuan business already, or considering doing so within the next six months.

The new study showed yuan foreign exchange transactions remain the most common offshore use of the currency among international and local companies, driven by hedging needs.

For trade settlement, potential users said they were mainly eyeing the benefits of better foreign exchange risk management, while existing users appreciated the improvement in timeliness or were being asked to do so by onshore counterparts.

The index is being promoted by Standard Chartered as the first industry benchmark that tracks offshore yuan business worldwide, which the bank claims will offer a quantifiable view of the latest trends as China accelerates its pace to make the yuan global.

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