As a result, RMB adoption by South Korea and Taiwan for payments with China and Hong increased to 84% and 80%, respectively, for all payments across currencies. Adoption by Australia and Malaysia has also progressed well, to 18% and 15% respectively, whilst RMB usage by Japan (5%) and India (1%) with China and Hong Kong remains marginal. Overall, RMB adoption for payments in Asia has progressed from 24% to 33% in the last year.

 

“The appointment of clearing centers in Taipei, Singapore, Seoul and more recently Sydney and Kuala Lumpur clearly promotes the use of the currency for global trade and finance across the region”, says Michael Moon, Head of Payments, Asia Pacific, at SWIFT. “Japan and India, which are also important countries in the region, are showing a significant increase compared to last year. However, the dominance of the Japanese yen and US dollar for payment flows with China and Hong Kong has a strong impact on RMB adoption rates in those markets, which is still quite low.”

 

Moon adds, “Following the devaluation of the RMB by the People’s Bank of China in August 2015, SWIFT will continue to closely monitor the use of the RMB as an international currency for payments and in foreign exchange. At this time it is difficult to ascertain the impact the devaluation has had on the RMB usage for payments with China and Hong Kong.” 

 

In July 2015, the RMB held its position as the fifth most active currency for global payments in value with a record high share of 2.34%, a slight increase from 2.09% in June 2015. Overall, RMB payments increased in value by 8.12% in July 2015, whilst all payments currencies decreased in value by 3.84%.