London's RMB business keeps steady growth: report

LONDON - The renminbi, or yuan, denominated trade financing in London increased by 10 percent to around 42.8 billion yuan in 2013, compared to that of 2012, said the City of London Wednesday.

Export financing showed particularly strong results, with a substantial increase of 78 percent to 11.8 billion yuan in 2013, while import financing and letters of credit decreased by 2 and 11 percent respectively, said the city in a report authored by Bourse Consult.

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Regarding the transaction figures, however, the average daily value on trading in deliverable yuan denominated foreign exchange (FX) products increased by 140 percent to $18.7 billion in 2013, while trading in non-deliverable products shrank by 27 percent to $6.6 billion, data showed.

Spot trading in yuan denominated FX products saw a 123 percent year-on-year increase to a daily value of $5.6 billion in 2013. And total yuan FX trading in London was up by 50 percent to $25.3 billion per day in 2013, figures showed.

Total yuan deposits in London at the end of December 2013 was 14.6 billion yuan, 23 percent higher than the 11.9 billion yuan a year before, data also showed.

Mark Boleat, Policy Chairman at the City of London Corporation said in a statement:" The internationalization of the yuan is a fundamental factor in China's economic development and a long-term sustainable offshore yuan market in London will support this process, benefiting both the UK and China."

"We expect to see a deepening and widening of London's yuan markets, with more participants as well as new opportunities in investment, as market confidence continues to grow," added Boleat.

This study is the third full year survey in a series reporting on London yuan trading volumes, said the City. Thirteen banks, which are major players of London's yuan market and taking up over 85 percent of market activity, participated in the survey.