A China-Africa cross-border yuan settlement center has opened in Yiwu, the world's largest wholesale market for small commodities, in East China's Zhejiang Province, according to Yiwufabu, the official WeChat account of the Yiwu government on Monday.
The move is expected to provide multi-channel clearing functions for China-African trading enterprises, reducing their exchange rate costs and risks and promoting China-Africa trade, experts and traders said.
The center will expand the cross-border yuan settlement business in Africa, strengthen the cooperation with branches of Chinese banks and financial institutions in Africa, establish cross-border yuan settlement channels and explore cross-border asset transfer and interbank purchases and sales, according to Yiwufabu.
The establishment of the center provides a more convenient settlement channel for economic and trade exchanges between Yiwu and Africa, with some traders expecting that yuan settlements will reduce exchange rate costs and rate risks amid a complex and volatile international situation.
