Cross-border yuan use jumps by nearly 40%

Cross-border use of the yuan in Shanghai maintained momentum in the first half despite COVID-19’s influence on foreign trade and investment.

The amount of cross-border yuan receipts and payments totaled 6.63 trillion yuan (US$945 billion) from January to June, up 39.8 percent year on year, bucking the trend of weakening foreign trade in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, according to the Shanghai headquarters of the People's Bank of China.

The city continued to rank first in China by contributing more than half of the national total.

Cross-border yuan receipts and payments accounted for 58.6 percent of all local and foreign currency use, up 16 percentage points over the same period in 2019.

At present, the use of the currency for cross-border transactions and business has entered a benign development stage driven by the market. With the expansion of the use of the yuan in cross-border trade and investment, its recognition and acceptance by overseas entities are constantly improving, which in turn drives more domestic enterprises to use the currency for settlement.

In the first six months, cross-border yuan receipts and payments under current account and direct investment in Shanghai totaled 1.43 trillion yuan, up 26.9 percent compared with a year before, the central bank said.