HSBC India has executed the first renminbi (RMB) denominated cross-border trade transaction in India for a major pharmaceuticals company, and said that the transaction had seen the bank join a growing list of HSBC entities that have concluded their first trade settlement in RMB.

China is one of India’s largest trading partners and bilateral trade between the two countries have been growing rapidly for the past few years. HSBC forecasts that RMB will be a top three global trade currency in the next five years. Ten percent of China’s US$6 trillion trade was settled in RMB in Q112 and by 2015, HSBC expects this to rise up to 50%. India and China along with other emerging markets in south Asia have been instrumental in leading an eastward shift in global trade.