Rani Jarkas: RMB becomes widely accepted in cross-border transactions

Last year, the IMF decided to add yuan into its Special Drawing Rights (SDR) currency basket, making it one of the five reserve currencies fully endorsed by the 188-member organization.
Chinese currency is increasingly being accepted in cross-border transactions, as the currency gains increased global recognition. IMF data showed that $94 billion of official assets were already held in renminbi at the end of 2014, accounting for 1.1 percent of global foreign exchange reserves.
According to report from the People's Bank of China, the volume of cross-border renminbi receipts and payment in 2015 reached 12.1 trillion yuan ($1.83 trillion), accounting for 28.7% of the total volume of cross-border receipts and payments.
China has aggressively promoted global use of the renminbi, as the world's largest trading nation looks to lower transaction costs in international trade, which currently is mostly settled in US dollars.
PBOC declared that by the end of 2015, yuan had become the third most-used currency in cross-border trade and financing. It took fifth place among all currencies for use in international payments and foreign exchange trading. And the currency looks set to take up a greater share of global reserve currency assets.
Rani Jarkas, Chairman of Cedrus Investments, an investment pioneer with years of financial experience in Asia, said, “I believe that yuan will become a major currency and one of the most important in cross-border current account trading, and overseas investors will enjoy wider access to yuan-denominated investment and financing products.”