London Jan. 29 (People's Daily Online)—— The Singapore–London Renminbi (RMB) Forum was held on 27 January 2015 in Singapore. The meeting was attended by senior representatives of sixteen financial institutions from both Singapore and London. Forum participants engaged and shared the key outcomes with over 50 corporates following their discussions.

Outlook for 2015

The participants noted that the RMB gained significant traction as a trade and investment currency in 2014, on account of major strides made by China in capital account liberalisation and financial reforms. Both Singapore and London saw rapid growth in their RMB markets, and consolidated their positions as major offshore RMB centres.

They expect continued robust growth in the offshore RMB market in 2015 . In particular, the RMB is expected to make considerable headway as an investment currency, and in the future, as a reserve currency, reaping the benefits of favourable policy and market infrastructure .

RMB Usage Survey

The RMB Usage Survey demonstrated that corporate and institutional users based in Singapore and the region were highly involved in offshore RMB activities, especially FX, trade and deposits, and they expect their usage to increase in the future . Key factors influencing usage of the RMB include regulatory certainty, cost benefits, as well as availability of investible assets.

Opportunities and Areas for Collaboration

Forum participants noted that both Singapore and London are well-positioned to support the growth of RMB activities, given their roles as international financial centres, commodity trading hubs and riding on strong business/trade links between China, ASEAN and Europe. Forum participants agreed to step up their engagement and deepen their capabilities to create more RMB products and services to better serve their clients’ needs.

Mr Samuel Tsien, Chairman, The Association of Banks in Singapore and Group CEO, OCBC Bank, said: “These areas of collaboration will support the continued growth of the RMB business in Singapore and London as well as strengthen their status as leading offshore RMB centres in Asia and Europe. We look forward to more exchanges and cooperation between the financial institutions in Singapore and London to further spur the development of the offshore RMB market.”