BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese yuan saw its share in global payments rise to 1.89 percent in March, up from 1.85 percent a month ago, a report showed.
The international financial transaction agency SWIFT said the yuan retained its position as the fifth most active currency for domestic and international payments by value in its monthly report.
The report said the yuan's payments value increased by 17.04 percent month on month in March, faster than the average growth of 14.45 percent in all of other currencies.
Hong Kong continued to be the top offshore yuan-using economy with a weight of 74.61 percent of the total, followed by Britain at 5.98 percent and Singapore at 4.84 percent.
The yuan's rising status in global payments came amid China's steady efforts to open up and further integrate into the world economy.
A raft of measures have been taken to facilitate the yuan's globalization, including promoting currency swap agreements with other central banks, granting overseas investors easier access to China's securities and bonds markets and briskly providing financial support for areas where infrastructure lags behind.
