It was learned from the Department of Commerce of Hunan Province on December 1 that, Hunan Province has made positive progress in accelerating the China-Africa Cross-border RMB Center construction. It has been included by the provincial government as one of the eight key support platforms for the provincial economic and trade cooperation mechanism with Africa, and has become a major construction project in the Pilot Zone for In-depth China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation.

The China-Africa Cross-border RMB Center is a major financial achievement of the first China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo held in Changsha in 2019. It was approved by ICBC’s head office and established in ICBC Hunan Branch, aiming at improving the ability of cross-border financial services to Africa. It integrates such functions as policy research, product innovation, cross-border RMB clearing, investment and financing, transaction banking, large retail, information services, and cross-border RMB training.

Since its establishment, it has successively hosted the “2020 Africa-China Matchmaking on Agri-products”, “2021 Conference for Chinese and African Suppliers and Buyers”, “China-Africa Financial Cooperation Dialogue” and many other major conferences and economic and trade consultation activities, based on the ICBC independently-developed ICBC Business Matchmaker Platform. The China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo official information platform, jointly established with the Department of Commerce of Hunan Province, has provided information consultation, project information, economic and trade matchmaking and foreign management policies, and financial service and guidance for China-Africa economic and trade enterprises.

The Standard Bank of South Africa is the largest commercial bank on the African continent, and ICBC is its largest single shareholder. The China-African Cross-border RMB Center takes advantage of this linkage to actively serve African-related enterprises. For example, in the first three quarters of this year, it has provided Lianyuan and Xiangtan iron and steel companies of Valin Group, Minmetals Copper (Hunan) Co., Ltd., and other companies with financial support for importing iron ore and other raw materials from Africa. Import letters of credit equivalent to more than 6.5 billion RMB have been issued, and 11 guarantees have been issued, equivalent to 106 million RMB, and involving 5 African countries.

The center has continued to promote the opening of RMB clearing accounts with African correspondent banks, and cooperated with many African banks in RMB accounts. The business of spot foreign exchange settlement and sale for the public in 6 African countries including South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Botswana, and Zambia has been opened to provide convenience for and avoid exchange rate risks for African-related companies.

This article is from Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Yu Jiangjiang

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn