Offshore yuan development promoted

China is stepping up efforts to expand the renminbi's global footprint by strengthening cross-border payment and offshore clearing infrastructure under a new five-year blueprint, while designating Deutsche Bank as an RMB clearing bank for Europe in Frankfurt.

The People's Bank of China, China's central bank, said on Monday that it recently issued a plan outlining key tasks for its reform and development during the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period, reiterating the need to advance the internationalization of the renminbi, expand the use of the Chinese currency in international trade, investment and financing, and promote the development of offshore RMB markets.

PBOC also calls for improving a multitiered, comprehensive cross-border payment system involving the RMB — also known as the yuan.

On the same day, the PBOC announced its decision to authorize Deutsche Bank to serve as the renminbi clearing bank in Frankfurt, making it the first foreign bank in Europe to receive the designation.

Deutsche Bank said the appointment will enable it to provide European financial institutions and businesses with direct end-to-end clearing and settlement services for cross-border RMB transactions, serving as a local bridge for China's payment systems.

In addition, the appointment will further strengthen RMB clearing infrastructure across Europe, improve the efficiency of RMB flows and facilitate access to reliable offshore RMB liquidity for financial institutions and corporates.

Alexander von zur Muehlen, CEO of Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East& Africa and Germany at Deutsche Bank, said: "Securing RMB clearing capability in Europe reinforces our role as a trusted global clearing partner and our long-standing support for RMB internationalization. It strengthens China-Europe financial connectivity and enhances our ability to support clients' cross-border trade and investment flows with greater choice and flexibility."

The RMB climbed to fifth place among the world's most-used payment currencies by transaction value in June, up from sixth in May, according to SWIFT's latest Global Currency Tracker. Its share of global payments rose to 3.1 percent from 2.75 percent a month earlier.

The RMB also remained the world's second-most-used currency for trade financing in June, after the US dollar, with its market share increasing to 8 percent from 7 percent in May.

In June, the top five offshore RMB markets by share were Hong Kong (75.9 percent), the United Kingdom (6.84 percent), Singapore (3.6 percent), the United States (3.13 percent) and France (2.02 percent), as per the Global Currency Tracker.

Singapore's DBS Bank is seeing steadily rising demand for RMB-denominated trade settlement and financing, as Chinese firms deepen commercial ties with the rest of Asia and the international use of the yuan expands.

The average daily transaction value of China's Cross-border Interbank Payment System rose from about 680 billion yuan ($100.8 billion) in 2025 to roughly 830 billion yuan in June.

"This clearly shows that there is greater adoption of the RMB for payments to counterparties in China," said Han Kwee Juan, group executive and group head of institutional banking at DBS Bank.

To further promote the internationalization of the RMB, the PBOC said on Aug 1 at a work conference that it would actively and prudently advance central bank currency swaps and cooperation on local-currency settlement.

As of end-2025, the PBOC had signed bilateral currency swap agreements with the central banks and monetary authorities of 32 countries and regions, with a total value exceeding 4.5 trillion yuan.