RMB report released in Beijing  

Chen Yulu, president of Renmin University and financial expert, addresses a speech at Sunday's press conference.

(Ecns) - A press conference for the RMB Internationalization Report 2013 was held on Sunday at Renmin University in Beijing.

Co-hosted by Renmin University and the Bank of Communications, the report's theme is Changing World Trade Patterns and RMB Internationalization.

Chen Yulu, president of Renmin University and financial expert, said that last year internationalization of RMB saw a rapid growth, with a year-on-year increase of 49 percent. However, international use of RMB is still in its infancy.

As of the fourth quarter of last year, China's RMB Internationalization Index (RII) reached 0.87, with an increase of 49 percent from 0.58 in the previous year. During the same period, US dollar internationalization index was 52.34, and internationalization index of other major currencies decreased in various degrees, Chen said.

According to the report, currently there are three main obstacles that affect international use of RMB and its internationalization process.

First, China's current trade is big but not strong, and products are not competitive. Enterprises' ability and willingness to settle international trade in RMB is low.

Second, international development of China's financial institutions, which should play bigger roles in RMB internationalization, lags behind trading activities.

Third, there are too few direct transactions between RMB and foreign currencies in the exchange market. The global clearing system, renting euros and US dollars, increases RMB transaction costs, which leads to the inconvenience of RMB's international use.

The report also put forward two suggestions on the development strategies of RMB internationalization: To enhance the RMB trade pricing function, short-term efforts should be made to optimize the industrial structure, foster regional trade in key markets and encourage the regions' willingness to use RMB in international trade; to improve RII steadily through the consolidation of trade status.

Long-term efforts should be made to achieve the transformation from a big trade country to a strong trade one, and improve the convenience of RMB use in international trade, according to the report.