Use of renminbi, Chinese currency, growing globally

BEIJING, July 21 (UPI) -- Chinese currency, the renminbi, is poised to become the world's third-most used currency in the world, a report said.

The report, released Sunday by Beijing's Renmin University, said the renminbi, of which the yuan is an element, is currently ranked fifth in world in use, behind the U.S. dollar, the euro, the British pound and the Japanese yen, with cross-border trade denominated in yuan in 2013 amounting to 4.63 trillion yuan ($746 billion), a 57.5 percent increase over 2012.

As Beijing increases its use and promotion of the yuan, Chinese currency will be third in the world within five years, the report said.

An offshore market in yuan use has been growing in recent years. The People's Bank of China recently signed a memoranda of understanding regarding yuan clearing with the central banks of the United Kingdom, Germany, Luxembourg, France and South Korea.