Swift states that RMB has jumped from the 35th to 16th most-used payment currency in the world since the firm started tracking the internationalization of the Chinese currency in October 2010. It has experienced by far the greatest increase in usage of any currency, with payments across all currencies rising by just 1.1 times, compared with 17.4 times for the RMB. The only other main currency with a marked increase was the RUB, in which payments grew by 3.2 times.
| RMB payments grow 17.4 times |
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| Source: Swift |
From June 2011 to June 2012, the international adoption of the RMB grew substantially, as the number of countries and institutions processing RMB payments expanded from 65 to 91 – a 40% increase – and from 617 to 983 – a 60% increase – respectively.
Another indicator of widening international RMB adoption is the increase in RMB relationships of the top five RMB payments banks, from 91 to 153 relationships since June 2011 – a 68% increase.
| Growing international adoption of RMB payments |
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| Source: Swift |