Asia Pacific

The RMB qualified foreign institutional investors (RQFII) programme saw its sharpest monthly acceleration ever in April 2015. The programme, which launched in 2011, saw the State Administration of Foreign Exchange give out Rmb33.9bn ($5.5bn) in quotas in a single month across four jurisdictions.

The latest data from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift) shows that the renminbi has returned to fifth place in the ranking of most active global payments currencies, accounting for 2.03% of payments worldwide in March 2015.

In this round-up, Macau RMB deposits and cross-border RMB trade settlement fall in February, ICBC launches RMB clearing in Thailand, the Shanghai FTZ expands four-fold, and Kenya hopes to become the RMB hub in Africa.

The most eagerly awaited of all quota approvals came on Thursday with the news that the People's Bank of China (PBoC) had finally granted a Rmb50bn ($8.6bn) renminbi qualified foreign institutional investor (RQFII) quota to Luxembourg, a world leading domicile for investment funds.

China New Town Development ventured to the international bond market for the first time in its history, pricing a Rmb1.3bn dim sum bond with the backing of China Development Bank (CDB).

The inclusion of the renminbi in the International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights (SDR) currency basket in the next SDR review later this year is by no means a foregone conclusion. But much progress has been made, according to participants at the Offshore RMB conference organised by market body Asifma this week in Hong Kong.

Ocean Wealth, a wholly owned special purpose vehicle of China Orient Asset Management, raised Rmb1.48bn ($243m) on April 28 with a dual-tranche dim sum bond that was secured and backed by loan repayments.

China New Town Development has started its first foray into the offshore renminbi bond (CNH) market on April 28, opening books to a three year Reg S offering.

The Taipei Exchange (TPEx), formerly known as the GreTai Securities Market, is stepping up its efforts to promote itself internationally and to bring the Taiwan RMB-denominated bond market to the attention of global issuers and investors.

Fund managers are increasingly keen on offering their clients exposure to renminbi assets. But with the dim sum market still dogged by illiquidity and small issue sizes, creative thinking is needed.

This week’s official launch of the new free trade zones (FTZ) in the city of Tianjin and the provinces of Guangdong and Fujian has coincided with a new shortening of the negative list that determines which sectors in China are off-limits to foreign investors.

In this round-up, Malaysia and China renew their bilateral swap agreement, Thailand launches RMB clearing services, and the Silk Road Fund makes its first investment into Pakistan.