A worker counts Chinese currency renminbi at a bank in Linyi, East China's Shandong province. [Photo/Xinhua]
The global use of the renminbi continued to expand between February and April compared with the preceding three-month period, according to Standard Chartered's revised Renminbi Globalization Index, which rose from 212.1 in January to 224.8 in April.
The increase underscores the currency's growing international role, with overall usage now more than twice the level seen about 10 years ago.
The London-based international banking group announced on Friday that it has revised the methodology of its proprietary Renminbi Globalization Index, which tracks the global use of the renminbi, to better reflect the currency's international usage as well as the relative importance and representativeness of the index's underlying components.
The recent rebound in the index reflects, on the one hand, stronger global demand for renminbi settlement amid conflict in the Middle East. On the other hand, it has been supported by policy measures introduced by the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong to advance renminbi internationalization, Standard Chartered said. Notably, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority has doubled the total size of the RMB Business Facility to 200 billion yuan ($29.5 billion), effective Feb 2.
