Yuan settlement expands along the Belt and Road

Kashgar, a major prefecture of northwestern China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, has developed renminbi cross-border payment and receipt business with 15 countries and regions between 2011 and June 2016, said a central bank official on Tuesday.

Managed by six commercial banks in Kashgar, the total cross-border renminbi settlement amount reached 4.64 billion yuan ($695 million) by June this year.

Wang Xiaodong, president of Kashgar central sub-branch of the People's Bank of China, said as surging trade activities push China and more countries along the Belt and Road Initiative toward a new cross-border renminbi settlement mechanism, renminbi may come to pack more power compared with the greenback when making payments in these countries.