Shanghai sees record high in cross-border RMB settlement

Cross-border renminbi settlement realized in Shanghai hit a record high of 29.8 trillion yuan ($4.1 trillion) in 2024, People's Bank of China Shanghai head office said on Wednesday.

Shanghai accounted for 47 percent of China's total cross-border RMB settlement last year, according to Ge Qing, director of the macroprudential management department at the PBOC Shanghai head office.

The majority 80 percent of such cross-border RMB settlements concluded in Shanghai last year were to serve cross-border financing and investment as well as securities trading. This has helped enhance Shanghai's influence as an international financial center, said Ge.

Last year, 12,400 new market entities in Shanghai chose RMB for cross-border settlement, of which 30 percent were those specializing in trade in goods. An increasing number of enterprises have chosen cross-border RMB to avoid exchange risks. Throughout 2024, Shanghai received 15 new trading counterparties for such settlement, while its trading with 104 countries and regions increased last year.

The city's cross-border RMB settlement under trade in goods grew by 30 percent year-on-year, and such settlement accounted for 36 percent of the foreign-related balance of trade in goods, said the PBOC Shanghai head office.

The volume of RMB overseas loans increased by 51 percent year-on-year, saving interest expenses for more enterprises. The import and export settlement of bulk commodities, including precious metals, iron ore and grain, doubled in 2024.

Meanwhile, companies exporting large-scale complete sets of equipment such as large aircraft and ships have used more RMB cross-border trade settlement, according to the PBOC Shanghai head office.

In addition, Shanghai's RMB settlement volume for new forms of foreign trade, best represented by cross-border e-commerce, spiked 55 percent year-on-year. The settlement volume of new offshore economic and trade business surged 110 percent from a year earlier. As China issues a number of foreign visa exemption policies, Shanghai saw the cross-border RMB business volume for tourism grow by 67 percent last year.