The Renminbi, or Chinese yuan, has surpassed Japanese yen to become the world's fourth-largest payment currency, according to a report issued by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT). The rank of the Renminbi has increased by leaps and bounds— in 2012, it ranked 12th.

According to the statistics of SWIFT, in August 2015, the global payment market share of the Renminbi was 2.79 percent, a record high. While in January 2014, its market share was only 1.39 percent.

The report shows that in August 2015, over 100 countries and regions used Renminbi for payment, and over 90 percent of the payments were made in 10 countries, among which 24.4 percent of the payment were made in Singapore and 21.6 percent in Britain. Currently, more than 1,700 financing institutions use the Renminbi for payment, a year-on-year growth of 14 percent.

Although the rank of the Renminbi as a payment currency rises rapidly, it still has a long way to go. The SWIFT statistics show that in August 2015, the global payment market share of USD is 44.82 percent, Euro is 27.20 percent and GBP is 8.45 percent.

On Oct. 8, the Renminbi Cross-border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) was officially launched, which will provide capital settlement service to the Renminbi cross border and offshore business of domestic and foreign financing institutions. The launching of CIPS means that the internationalization of the Renminbi has taken an important step.