China's state-owned currency marketplace said on Sunday it was preparing to open branches in London and New York as part of efforts to promote the yuan's global status. The China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS), a subsidiary of China's central bank, said in a statement that by expanding its network offshore, it aims to serve more overseas institutions and become a "main trading platform and pricing centre" for the yuan globally.
China has been gradually loosening its capital controls to allow more foreign participation in its onshore yuan market. Beijing is also fostering offshore yuan centres to promote international use of the Chinese currency.
CFETS provides an electronic bidding system for the yuan against foreign currencies. It also offers cross-rate trading, as well as RMB interbank lending and bond trading.