Attention to SMEs

He suggested that the settlement center pay more attention to the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

"SMEs are now important in cross-border trade and investment and will be potential clients of the center. The center should offer more measures for them, help them reduce costs and expand businesses," he said.

Zhou Jiangong, editor-in-chief of the Chinese-language edition of the Forbes magazine, said the center should also note the emerging logistics business.

Blossoming sales?

He cited the Dounan Flower Market in Kunming.

"Called the largest flower distribution hub in China, Dounan only has annual sales worth several hundred million yuan, compared with the multi-billion euro market in the Netherlands. If the center can help solve the currency settlement problem, its sales can increase substantially."

Also of great importance is the Lusiwan Commodities Center, a development in Kunming oriented toward Southeast Asia set to attract about 90,000 firms. With the help of a renminbi settlement center, the facility is expected to develop a huge logistics network reaching into neighboring countries.

Mushtaq Khan, chief economic adviser of the State Bank of Pakistan, said Kunming has the geographic advantage to become a regional hub.

But he noted coordination between governments, either central or local, is crucial for Kunming to become a real currency settlement center.

Representatives of China's major banks, including Bank of China President Li Lihui and Agricultural Bank of China President Zhang Yun, have all expressed their support to the currency settlement center, promising to open more such outlets and offering assistances in technologies and personnel training.

(China Daily August 3, 2010)