A total of 65,000 metric tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) was unloaded on May 16, 2023 from Marweh carrier at the Dapeng LNG receiving station in south China's Guangdong Province, marking the completion of the first shipment of cross-border RMB-settled LNG.

China's Cross-Border RMB Settlement

As the world's second largest consumer market and the biggest trader of goods, China has expanded the cross-border RMB settlement in an orderly manner, and deepened the market-oriented reform of the RMB exchange rate, with the result that the currency exchange rate is generally maintained at a reasonable and balanced level. This helps to reduce exchange rate risks in trade and investment settlements, especially in commodity transactions, and it contributes to the maintenance of economic and financial security. To this end, a pilot program using RMB for the settlement of cross-border trade transactions was launched in 2009.

The pilot program was launched in Shanghai and some cities in Guangdong Province including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Dongguan, and later expanded to 20 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, including Beijing, Tianjin, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong, Hubei, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Chongqing, Sichuan, Yunnan, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Tibet, Xinjiang, etc. Based on the experience gained and learning accumulated from this program over the following years, it was decided at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2022 to advance the internationalization of RMB in an orderly manner. The China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (hereinafter referred to as "SINOSURE") has played an active role in this process, providing vital support to facilitate the use of RMB in cross-border settlements.