The yuan's cross-border financial transaction will continue to grow as overseas countries have stronger willingness to hold it as a reserve currency and bilateral currency cooperation proceeds, according to a report published by the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank, on Tuesday.
Use of the yuan became more frequent globally in 2016. According to the report, cross-border settlements using the Chinese currency reached 9.85 trillion yuan ($1.49 trillion).
Yuan-denominated outbound direct investment settlements reached 1.06 trillion yuan, while foreign direct investment settlements amounted to 1.4 trillion yuan.
The report also noted that about 240,000 onshore companies used the yuan to conduct cross-border trade settlements by the end of 2016.
At the end of last year, 18 countries and regions had quota allotments under the renminbi qualified foreign institutional investor (RQFII) program that amounted to 1.51 trillion yuan.
At least 407 overseas institutions had received permission to enter China's interbank bond market, and up to 60 countries and regions had included yuan in their foreign-currency reserves.
China also took steps to promote internalization of the yuan. According to the PBOC report, the central bank signed bilateral currency swap agreements amounting to more than 3.3 trillion yuan with the central banks or currency regulators in 36 countries and regions in the world.
China also made yuan settlement arrangements in 23 countries and regions to facilitate overseas institutions' holdings and use of the yuan, according to the report.
The yuan also won admission into the IMF's Special Drawing Rights basket of currencies on October 1, 2016, which was an "important milestone" in the yuan's globalization, the report noted.
Other efforts of the government include perfecting the stock link mechanisms and streamlining RQFII management.
The yuan's central parity exchange rate reached 6.5991 against the US dollar on Wednesday.
