Renminbi is on track to be one of world's reserve currencies as payments worldwide using it nearly tripled in value in the past two years ending in August, according to SWIFT, an international banking transaction service company.

Since the launch of offshore renminbi (symbol CNH) there has been phenomenal growth in the market as offshore deposits in Hong Kong amounted to about 830 billion yuan ($135 billion) by the end of 2013.

An increased recognition of renminbi as a global investment currency is expected to mark the next chapter of its internationalization.

So here are top five renminbi-denominated offshore investments based on their popularity.

5. Dual-counter traded equity

Hopewell Highway Infrastructure, a Hong Kong listed Chinese company, debuted with the first renminbi-traded equity outside Chinese mainland in 2012 by introducing a dual counter model where shares can be traded in renminbi and Hong Kong dollar respectively. The renminbi and Hong Kong dollar counters have different stock codes and are fully transferable.

Hong Kong Exchanges introduced its first dual counter, the renminbi- and Hong-Kong-dollar-traded Harvest MSCI China A Index ETF earlier in the same year.

Now after a two-year "silence" since the first two, the market expects Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect to ramp up and attract more dual-counter issuances in response to an increasing need of renminbi investment.

4. Renminbi currency futures

Hong Kong Exchanges launched world's first deliverable renminbi currency futures in September 2012, and has seen the market turning around from a small sum trading volume in the first year or so to hitting over 6,000 contracts on a single day when renminbi fell the most earlier this year since new foreign exchange rate policies were introduced in 2005.

The futures, in a bid to help managing exposure to the expanding offshore renminbi market, offer a contract size of $100,000 with eight contract months up to 16 month tenor. It trades on day session and after-hours session, covering in part European and US business hours, and could settle in physical delivery.

A total of $1,485 million worth of notional value was transacted in August, according to Hong Kong Exchanges. The trading volume in the after-hours session accounted for 13 percent of that in the day session.

3. RQFII fund

Launched in 2011, renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (RQFII) is aimed at widening investment channels for overseas renminbi-denominated funds. Foreign investors can tap into Chinese stocks, bonds and money-market products through RQFII funds, with A shares ETF being most popular.

As of the end of September, 86 financial institutions from Hong Kong, London and Singapore have obtained the approval of RQFII for value amounting to 283.3 billion yuan, with France, the Republic of Korea and Germany recently gaining the access to the scheme according to the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

2. Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect

Premier Li Keqiang announced plans to introduce the long-awaited through train in April, allowing mutual stock market access for investors on the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.

The pilot program, expected to be officially launched in October, is said to have been main reason behind recent rally in the two markets.

Initial rules regulated that Hong Kong investors will be able to trade 568 stocks in Shanghai with an upper limit of 300 billion yuan, while mainland investors will be allowed to invest up to 250 billion yuan in 268 Hong Kong stocks.

At present, institutional investors outside the Chinese mainland can invest on the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses only via the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors program (QFII) and the renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors program (RQFII).

Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect will pave way for the further opening up of mainland's capital markets and help promote the internationalization of renminbi, said the Hong Kong Exchanges in an announcement.

1. Dim sum bond

Named after well-liked Cantonese cuisine, dim sum bonds refer to bonds issued outside of Chinese mainland but denominated in renminbi.

With the first dim sum bond issued in 2007, the gross issuance for the first eight months this year has reached to 426 billion yuan, or 114 percent of the total in 2013, according to data compiled by Standard Chartered. The agency remains a full-year issuance forecast at 550 to 580 billion yuan.

Rating agency Fitch said in a report that it expects demand for dim sum bonds to grow significantly over the medium to long term, driven by increasing acceptance by global investors of the renminbi as a major global asset and trading currency.