2011-06-16 13:54

MOSCOW -- Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) Norman Chan on Wednesday said here that the use of Chinese currency Renminbi will facilitate the business between China and emerging market economies.

Chan made the remarks in a luncheon seminar entitled "Use of Renminbi in Cross-Border Trade and Investment -- A New Era" which was jointly organized by the HKMA and China Development Bank (CDB).

"As emerging market economies are playing an increasingly important role in the world's financial and economic developments, the greater use of domestic currencies in cross-border transactions is a continuing trend in the future," said Chan.

"This (use of Renminbi) will help reduce currency conversion costs and exchange rate risks and enhance China's economic links with Russia and other emerging market economies, while providing increased convenience and business opportunities for enterprises and financial institutions," he added.

Di Weiping, chief investment officer and chief executive of Hong Kong Branch of CDB, said the CDB, China's largest bank in cooperative foreign financing and investment, signed in April an agreement among relevant financial institutions in Brazil, Russia, India and China on pursuing cooperation in lending in domestic currencies.

"At present, CDB's lending in Russia amounted to $28.4 billion, and will seek to further cooperation with Russia in respect of business in domestic currencies," Di said.

On December 15, Russia's Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange (MICEX) officially launched ruble-yuan trading, while Yuan-ruble trading began last November in China's Shanghai Stock Exchange.