Renminbi convertibility 'possible in three years'

The renminbi could become convertible under the capital account "within a three-year time frame", said a Chinese scholar with an official background.

Zhang Chenghui, director of the Finance Institute under the Development Research Center of the State Council, said on Monday that the experiment in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone is critical for the renminbi's liberalization under the capital account.

"The central government has stressed that the Shanghai FTZ is not just for Shanghai but for the whole country. I believe that within three years, the Shanghai FTZ can accumulate useful experience, based on which the renminbi's convertibility under the capital account could be pushed forward rapidly," she said.