China Tells

(Shanghai Daily) SHANGHAI is poised to allow another 200 companies to take part in the cross-border yuan settlement trial.

Since July 6, the city has approved 92 companies to join the trial and more of them will be allowed to participate in the trial, Fang Xinghai, director of the Shanghai Financial Services Office, said yesterday.

He declined to give a time frame for the firms to join the trial, as approval from top regulators is also required.

In April, the Chinese government allowed five mainland cities to start the trial for settling cross-border trade in yuan with businesses in Hong Kong, Macau and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The People’s Bank of China also received requests from its currency swap counterparties to expand the trial. The central bank has signed currency swap deals of 650 billion yuan (US$95.3 billion) with Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Belarus and Argentina.

The first transaction of a yuan settlement on cross-border trade was made in Shanghai on July 6. Four cities in Guangdong Province — Guangzhou, Dongguan, Shenzhen and Zhuhai