China’s Central Bank Plans Push to Increase Yuan’s Global Usage

(Bloomberg) -- China's central bank said it plans to push the yuan's global use by seeking more cooperation with other countries and improving the infrastructure needed to support wider use of the currency.

The comments were included in a three-paragraph statement, posted on the People's Bank of China website Wednesday, on its forthcoming 2016 annual report on yuan globalization. The monetary authority didn't provide other details about the findings or say when the report would be published.

The statement comes almost a year after China's August 2015 devaluation of its currency, which roiled global markets and sent stock and commodity markets tumbling. The yuan's share of global payments fell to 1.72 percent in June, the lowest amount since 2014, while the currency's deposits in Hong Kong declined to a three-year low.

The PBOC's statement Wednesday also said infrastructure for yuan internationalization will be improved, cross-border use under the current account will be increased and channels for yuan financing will be widened. It didn't elaborate on how it would achieve these goals. 

Use of the yuan as a reserve currency also will be increased, the central bank said. The International Monetary Fund will add the yuan to its Special Drawing Rights in October.

--With assistance from Tian Chen To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Jeff Kearns in Beijing at jkearns3@bloomberg.net, Yinan Zhao in Beijing at yzhao300@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Malcolm Scott at mscott23@bloomberg.net, Robin Ganguly, Jodi Schneider

With assistance from Yinan Zhao, Jeff Kearns