HSBC: Half of China’s trade to be settled in yuan by 2020

HONG KONG: Cross-border trade settlement denominated in China’s yuan currency is expected to climb to over 50% of China’s total trade by 2020, more than doubling the current level, HSBC’s Group chief executive Stuart Gulliver said.

A scheme launched in 2009 and initially in five Chinese cities to encourage cross-border trade settlement in yuan rather than US dollars has seen rapid growth in the past few years, with yuan settlement of trade debts rising from 1% of transactions in 2010 to 22% last year.