The SWIFT RMB Tracker showed a 32.7 percent growth in value of Chinese RMB payments globally in the last month.
France holds the leading position of Euro countries exchanging RMB payments, following a 249 percent growth in payments value since March 2012. According to SWIFT, France is now ranked number four in the world for RMB payments value (excluding Hong Kong and China), trailing behind the UK, Singapore and Taiwan.
SWIFT also noted that the majority of RMB payments made were institutional transfers (95 percent), whilst only 5 percent were customer payments.
Lisa O’Connor, RMB director at SWIFT said: “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.
She added that 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.
Overall RMB payments grew in value by 32.7 percent, in comparison to the average increase of just 5.1 percent across all currencies.
