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China's ICBC clears 1st RMB transaction in Singapore via new cross-border payment system

Xinhua, October 8, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) Singapore completed its first clearing of 35 million yuan via the Cross-border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) on Thursday as a major step to internationalize its currency.

The transaction, which was a trade settlement payment from Singapore's Raffemet Pte Ltd to Baosteel Resources in Shanghai, marked the first in Asia to be cleared through the newly-launched system.

The CIPS system was developed and administered by China's central bank. It enables market participants outside China to clear yuan transactions with their Chinese counterparts directly from during any working day under a coding format in line with international practice.

The CIPS will process a broad range of cross-border RMB transactions, including settlement of RMB trade and capital projects, as well as settlement of remittance transactions, ICBC Singapore said.

"The launch of CIPS represents a turning point in the internationalisation of the yuan. As the yuan continues to rise as a popular choice among world payment currencies, CIPS will accelerate global use of the currency, with the extended operational hours and greater efficiency," said Zhang Weiwu, General Manager of ICBC Singapore.

As the sole official RMB clearing bank of Singapore, ICBC Singapore has recorded a clearing volume of 47.1 trillion yuan in the first three quarters of 2015, an increase of nearly 97.1 percent from the same period last year. Endi