According to a Chinese central bank official, the pace of the yuan convertibility may accelerate as global demand grows for trade settlement in the Chinese currency.

Mr Xing Yujing deputy director general of the monetary policy department of the People Bank of China said "If you look at the history and the progress of international use of our yuan, you find that sometimes demand grows very quickly. He said that if there's demand from the market in order to facilitate trade and investment, the change may be quicker than we imagined before."

Analysts said China is seeking to promote the use of the yuan overseas as part of a longer-term plan to make it an international reserve currency along with the US dollar

Beijing promotion of Hong Kong as an offshore yuan trading hub has resulted in a flurry of yuan denominated corporate bonds also known as dimsum bonds, banks creating new structured products and more Chinese importers settling trade in the Chinese unit.

(Sourced from www.todayonline.com)