Guess which is the leading Euro country in terms of RMB usage

RMB payments grew 249% since March 2012.

According to SWIFT, France holds the leading position of Euro countries exchanging RMB payments, following a 249% growth in payments value since March 2012.

According to SWIFT, France is now ranked #4 in the world for RMB payments value (excluding Hong Kong and China), trailing behind the United Kingdom, Singapore and Taiwan. 21.4% of the payments made between France and China/Hong Kong were denominated in CNY in March 2013 versus only 6.5% one year ago. SWIFT notes that the majority of RMB payments made were institutional transfers (95%), whilst only 5% were customer payments.

Lisa O’Connor, RMB Director at SWIFT says, “This is an interesting development as it signifies France’s drive to become a leading RMB trading centre for Europe. French acceleration in RMB payments reflects increased competition with the UK since the Bank of England announced that it had signed a three-year currency swap agreement with China in March. It will be interesting to see how France’s work towards setting up a currency swap agreement with China progresses, and the impact that this activity within Europe may have on the RMB.”

The RMB continues to ascend the ranks as a major international payments currency regaining its position as #13, with an all-time high market share of 0.74%. Overall, RMB payments grew in value by 32.7%, in comparison to the average increase of just 5.1% across all currencies.