Global Firms Showing Increased Usage of the Chinese Yuan

Noel Quinn, Regional Head of Commercial Banking at HSBC, discusses the finding of its survey which showed a sharp increase in the use of Chinese Yuan.

The use of the renminbi in trade settlements increased

sharply this year, according to HSBC’s annual renminbi survey.

The survey which began last year covered eleven countries, four of which were added this year. All seven markets surveyed in both years posted increases, the largest of which were in Germany, Hong Kong and the U.S.

Of the German companies profiled, 23 percent are using the renminbi to settle trades, up from 9 percent last year, while usage in Hong Kong rose to 58 percent from 50 percent and to 17 percent from 9 percent in the U.S.

Usage of the renminbi among French companies – a new addition to this year’s list – was high at 26 percent.

Prospects for next year are bright as nearly 60 percent of global companies plan to increase their cross border activity with China over the next 12 months. Currently, 22 percent of companies globally trade in renminbi.

Meanwhile 32 percent of companies who don’t use the renminbi expect to do so in the future, HSBC found.

U.K. survey participants were the most enthusiastic about using the renminbi over the next year; 86 percent of U.K. firms plan to use it, followed by Canada at 74 percent, the United Arab Emirates at 73 percent and 63 percent in France.

Almost half of businesses surveyed see a financial (47 percent) and relationship (49 percent) advantage to using the currency. Among companies already using the renminbi, more than three quarters are convinced of these benefits.

Furthermore, companies told CNBC that the simplification of procedures (68 percent), further exchange rate liberalization (61 percent) and the expansion of transaction types that are renminbi eligible (57 percent) would encourage further renminbi use.

“Most Chinese businesses look favorably on overseas partners who are using renminbi, both because it shows commitment and because it eliminates foreign exchange risk from their cost base,” said Simon Cooper, chief executive of HSBC Commercial Banking.

China’s total trade in goods surpassed $4 trillion last year, as China overtook the U.S. to become the world’s largest trading nation. According to the International Monetary Fund, China will add around $850 billion to global demand this year, the equivalent to adding an economy the size of Indonesia to global trade flows.

HSBC forecasts that a third of China’s trade will be settled in renminbi by 2015 and that the currency will be fully convertible by 2017.

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