Shanghai records rapid growth in cross-border yuan use in Jan-Feb

SHANGHAI - Shanghai has recorded fast growth in the cross-border use of the Chinese yuan in the first two months of 2020, which jumped 33 percent year-on-year to 1.83 trillion yuan ($259 billion), central bank data showed.

In the January-February period, cross-border yuan payment in the financial hub surged 51 percent from the same period last year, while cross-border yuan receipt went up 19 percent, according to the People's Bank of China (PBOC) Shanghai Head Office.

The cross-border payment and receipt of yuan in Shanghai accounted for 54 percent of the national total in the two months, while its growth rate has outpaced the national pace of increase by 10 percentage points, the central bank said.

Thanks to facilitating measures, the cross-border use of yuan on goods trade increased 1 percent year-on-year in the reporting period, bucking a broader declining trend as foreign trade weakened in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak, according to the bank.

Meanwhile, the use of yuan in cross-border direct investment in Shanghai climbed 46 percent in the two-month period due to rising use of the two-way cross-border yuan capital pool, which helped domestic firms facing cash strain during the outbreak obtain funding support from their parent companies overseas in a timely and cost-efficient manner, it said.