China hopes RMB included in SDR basket in 'near future'

BEIJING -- One senior central banker said Thursday that China is "actively communicating" with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the possibility of including Chinese currency yuan, or RMB, in the basket of the Special Drawing Rights (SDRs).

"We hope the IMF can fully take into account the progress of RMB internationalization, to include RMB into the basket underlining the SDR in foreseeable, near future," said Yi Gang, vice governor of the People's Bank of China.

However, China keeps patience till conditions are ripe, Yi said at a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing annual parliamentary session.

SDRs are international foreign exchange reserve assets. Allocated to nations by the IMF, an SDR represents a claim to foreign currencies for which it may be exchanged in times of need.

Although denominated in US dollars, the nominal value of an SDR is derived from a basket of currencies, with, specifically, a fixed amount of Japanese yen, US dollars, British pounds and euros, without RMB.