PBOC vice governor: China to promote internationalization of yuan

China will remove policy barriers for cross-border payments and enhance financial infrastructural construction in foreign countries as part of efforts to further promote internationalization of the yuan, the vice-governor of the country's central bank said Sunday.

Yin Yong, vice-governor of the People's Bank of China, said the government will take more steps to relax controls of usage of yuan, as efforts to promote the opening up of domestic financial markets such as bond connect and outbound investment in projects related to the Belt and Road Initiative have been raising the demand for more usage of the currency.

He made the comments during the CF40 Asset Management Forum in Qingdao, Shandong province.

His remarks came after the central bank announced new measures to improve cross-border transactions of the currency earlier this month.

China will ensure remittance of overseas investors' returns in China, including profits and stock dividends, and foreign companies will be allowed to use yuan to trade in the domestic carbon emissions market, according to the central bank.

Efforts to improve infrastructural construction include building more yuan settlement banks and promoting e-payment in foreign countries, Yin said.

China will not make replacing the status of other currencies a major objective, he added.

In 2015, the International Monetary Fund included the yuan into the Special Drawing Rights basket, giving the currency the status of a reserve currency, following the dollar, euro, pound and yen.