OREANDA-NEWS. August 21, 2014. BOC rolled out in Australia an RMB clearing system jointly developed with the Australian Securities Exchange ("ASX"), which has made RMB the first foreign currency incorporated into the local clearing system.

The launch of the RMB clearing system marks a key step forward of RMB internationalization in Australia, and will further facilitate bilateral cooperation in trade and investment, and promote the development of a local offshore RMB market and the construction of a local offshore RMB center.

As an RMB clearing bank in the system, BOC Sydney Branch will devotedly provide safe, efficient and convenient RMB clearing services to clients inside and outside Australia, and gradually provide RMB bond issue and trading, settlement and clearing services for futures and other derivative products.

BOC Sydney Branch is the first Chinese financial institution established in Australia and the only one holding a comprehensive financial services license locally, and has become a leading foreign-funded bank and a major provider of RMB products and services in the Australian market. It was the first among its peers to start providing RMB international settlement, corporate and personal deposit/loan services in 2009; launched RMB clearing services as an agent bank in 2011; and issued the first RMB bonds in Australia in 2014.

BOC now boasts the largest-scale cross-border RMB business worldwide and the strongest professional capability in this area. At present, BOC has formed relatively sound RMB product lines ranging from deposits, loans to settlement, investment and trading, and established a safe and efficient global RMB payment and clearing network with two hubs based in Hong Kong and Shanghai. It is now an RMB clearing bank in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Germany, Malaysia, Cambodia and other countries and regions. So far, BOC has opened over 1,100 RMB clearing accounts for its global peers and over 1.7 million RMB accounts for enterprises and individuals, and maintained the largest global market share by cross-border RMB settlement and clearing volume.