ICBC to set up offshore yuan center in Los Angeles

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) signed a pact with the Los Angeles city government to promote cross-border yuan trade and set up an offshore renminbi center in California, the bank said on Saturday.

The move to create an offshore yuan center in the largest state in the US would lay the foundations for greater yuan trade with China, ICBC said in a statement.

The agreement comes at a time when many other countries and regions are ahead of the US in establishing cross-border trade in yuan.

The US has lagged other markets in seeking to set up offshore yuan trading hubs because the US dollar remains the world's dominant currency and US firms are reluctant to accept the yuan, a Chinese bank executive said.

China wants to promote its currency to more international investors and eventually turn the yuan into a global reserve currency, while at the same time expanding its already considerable political and economic influence.

About 15 percent of China's trade was settled in yuan in the first nine months of 2014.

In the first nine months of 2014, cross-border payments between the US and China reached more than 160 billion yuan ($26.13 billion), ICBC data show.

During that time, ICBC's cross-border business was worth nearly 28 trillion yuan, up more than 80 percent from the corresponding period in 2013.

On Tuesday, Bank of China and the Australian Stock Exchange tied hands to boost yuan trading in Australia.