Concept
Since the late-2000s, the People's Republic of China (PRC) has sought to internationalize its official currency, the Renminbi (RMB). RMB internationalization accelerated in 2009 when China established the dim sum bond market and expanded Cross-Border Trade RMB Settlement Pilot Project, which helps establish pools of offshore RMB liquidity. The RMB was the 8th-most-traded currency in the world in 2013 and the 7th-most-traded in early 2014. By the end of 2014, RMB ranked 5th as the most traded currency, according to SWIFT's report, at 2.2% of SWIFT payment behind JPY (2.7%), GBP (7.9%), EUR (28.3%) and USD (44.6%). In February 2015, RMB became the second most used currency for trade and services, and reached the ninth position in forex trading. The RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) quotas were also extended to five other countries — the UK (extended 15 October 2013), Singapore (22 October 2013), France (20 June 2014), Korea (18 July 2014), Germany (18 July 2014), and Canada (8 November 2014), each with the quotas of ¥80 billion except Canada and Singapore (¥50bn). Previously, only Hong Kong was allowed, with a ¥270 billion quota. The launch of Shanghai–Hong Kong Stock Connect (SSE and HKEx) in November 2014 embarked China upon the next stage of internationalization. In January 2015, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced a planned second Stock Connect linking Shenzhen and Hong Kong exchanges. China's RMB internationalization and foreign exchange (FX) reforms are evolving rapidly and full convertibility is expected over the next couple of years. In 2014, Hong Kong removed the conversion limit of 20,000 RMB per day for its residents. Until the early years of the 21st century, the Renminbi was not fully convertible and its flow in and out of China faced heavy restrictions. Under instructions from the Chinese government, the People's Bank of China (PBoC) began the move to full convertibility beginning around 2008.