"China will issue sovereign bonds denominated in its own currency to offshore investors for the first time this month – a crucial step towards making the renminbi a global currency...
...Beijing has taken a number of steps in the past year to encourage greater use of the renminbi in international transactions, beginning a process to decrease its dependence on the US dollar...
Beijing has signed deals since December with Malaysia, South Korea, Belarus, Indonesia and Argentina that allow it to receive renminbi instead of dollars for its exports to those countries.
In July, China began a pilot programme that expanded renminbi settlement agreements between Hong Kong and five major trading cities on the mainland, including Guangzhou and Shanghai.
But developing an offshore bond market will be crucial if the renminbi is to become a truly global currency, as it would provide foreign institutions with an attractive means with which to hold the renminbi."
