New digital financial infrastructure, new regional free trade agreements, and decisive leadership in the emerging sustainability and green agenda bode well for international RMB adoption.

The use of RMB in international transactions will increase despite US-China trade frictions and on-going COVID-19 pandemic according to the latest annual survey on RMB internationalisation conducted jointly by China Construction Bank and Asian Banker Research.

A renewed push to provide end-to-end supply chain financing solutions is driving trade finance across Asia Pacific.

New players and technologies continue to drive change in the transaction banking space in Asia Pacific, causing incumbent banks to focus more on improving customer experience and reviewing existing business models.

With the entry of financial technology disruptors, banks in Asia Pacific are putting greater focus on technology and operational excellence to enhance customer service and the overall transaction banking experience.

As the search for efficiency intensifies amid a slowdown in economic growth, banks continue to leverage technology to relieve cost pressures and provide increasingly complex working capital solutions that their clients demand.

It is clear that China’s goal of becoming the world’s largest economy by 2020 and the internationalisation of the RMB are two initiatives that are symbiotic in nature. With the recent IMF decision to include the currency in the SDR currency basket, what does the future hold for the RMB?

As trials move into actual implementations, global financial markets and monetary systems will be disrupted and transformed.

The majority of institutions surveyed attribute their increased Renminbi usage to China’s investments and partnerships facilitated by the Belt and Road Initiative

Surveyed institutions continue to adopt RMB in cross-border trade, driven by cost benefits and foreign exchange risk management