China Opens Onshore Currency Market to Foreign Central Banks

Bloomberg News
September 10, 2015 — 11:45 AM HKT Updated on September 10, 2015 — 1:09 PM HKT

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-10/china-to-allow-foreign-central-banks-in-onshore-currency-market

Cross-border payments system to be completed end-2015, says Li
Move comes as China pushes to obtain reserve status for yuan

China will open its domestic foreign-exchange market to overseas central banks, making it easier for other nations to hold yuan assets as Asia’s biggest economy pushes for the currency to win reserve status at the International Monetary Fund.

The country will keep the yuan stable at a reasonable, equilibrium level, Premier Li Keqiang said while announcing the easing of controls during a speech at a World Economic Forum meeting Thursday. The nation doesn’t want a currency war, he said, after the People’s Bank of China shook up global markets with a devaluation on Aug. 11. Overseas monetary authorities have already been granted access to China’s interbank bond market.

“The participation of foreign central banks will make the onshore yuan’s exchange rate more globally recognized,” said Banny Lam, co-head of research at Agricultural Bank of China International Securities in Hong Kong. “Allowing direct access gives the central banks more flexibility and control over costs, compared with going through local banks for trades. In general, it’s a positive move for yuan internationalization.”

The decision will help further China’s push for the yuan to join the dollar, euro, yen and pound in the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights basket of reserve currencies. A key indicator used to determine qualification is a currency’s share of official reserves and the yuan ranked seventh last year, behind the four SDR members as well as the Australian and Canadian dollars, according to the IMF. The Chinese currency’s share was 1.1 percent, compared with 63.7 percent for the U.S. dollar.

Global Participation
More than 60 global central banks and sovereign wealth funds have invested in yuan-denominated assets, with combined holdings of around $70 billion to $120 billion, Standard Chartered Plc estimated in a report published in May.
“Not long ago, we allowed foreign central banks to participate in the interbank bond market,” Li said at the WEF meeting in Dalian, China. “The next step is to allow foreign central banks to directly participate in the interbank foreign-exchange market. Before the end of this year, we will complete the cross-border yuan payment system that facilitates the development of the offshore yuan market.”

The first phase of the China International Payment System will begin in Shanghai to handle deals in Asia, Oceania and Europe, the PBOC said in a statement on June 11. The CIPS will facilitate cross-border trade settlement, direct investments and other yuan deals, it said.

Yuan Depreciation
The yuan slid 2.6 percent in August, the most in two decades, as the central bank devalued the currency and said it was adopting a more market-based methodology to determine a daily reference rate. The currency was trading 0.11 percent lower at 6.3850 a dollar as of 12:47 p.m. in Shanghai, little changed from before Li’s speech. The offshore yuan traded in Hong Kong fell 0.03 percent to 6.4688, a 1.3 percent discount to the onshore rate.