China has taken another step towards internationalising its currency and reducing reliance on the US dollar with the announcement of new rules to allow select companies to invoice and settle trade transactions in renminbi.
The regulations released by the People's Bank of China (PBoC), the country's central bank, will allow approved companies to settle transactions through financial institutions in Shanghai and other cities in southern China.
Offshore, the trial scheme will allow transactions to be settled in renminbi in Hong Kong and Macao, the two self-governing territories on China's southern borders, and later in a limited fashion in south-east Asia as well.