There has been an 18 per cent increase in use of renminbi (RMB) by financial institutions worldwide in the past two years for payments with China and Hong Kong, according to SWIFT data.

In February 2016, 37 per cent of all institutions – 1,131 banks – used RMB for payments with China and Hong Kong. This is an 18 per cent increase over the past two years.

According to SWIFT, the majority of these institutions are in Asia-Pacific (557), followed by Europe (376), the Americas (124) and then Africa and Middle East (74).

Michael Moon, head of payments, Asia-Pacific, at SWIFT, said: “The global volume of payments in RMB fluctuates, and is actually down by value compared to last month, likely influenced by the seasonal effect of the Chinese New Year. Furthermore, as widely reported in the press, the number of days it takes to settle payments in RMB has grown to the highest level in many years. The adoption of the currency by more financial institutions, within Asia-Pacific and abroad, will however further increase the global utility of the RMB for payments and, over time, will drive continued internationalisation of the Chinese currency.”