V. P. ANDREEV, Candidate of Economic Sciences Vice-President of JSC Bank ZENIT Member of the Commission for the preparation of regular meetings of the Heads of Government of Russia and China Keywords yuan, world reserve currency In January 2011, Chinese companies and banks participating in the RMB settlement program for cross-border trade were allowed to use the RMB also for direct investment abroad, for setting up joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, and for buying shares in the share capital of foreign companies. In addition, they were given the opportunity to repatriate the profits from such investments back to China in yuan, as well as to lend to Chinese companies for similar direct investments abroad. At the same time, in January 2011, residents of the city of Wenzhou (prov. Zhejiang) for the first time in China, it was allowed to invest abroad as individuals. As a result, China's total investment in RMB abroad reached $ 20.15 billion in 2011. RMB 1. FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN RMB In February 2011, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange Control of the People's Republic of China announced that, in order to create more favorable conditions for hedging currency risks in foreign trade, from April 2011, China will start trading options* in RMB so-called European style, i.e. options that can be redeemed only on one specified date (expiration date, execution date, repayment date). According to a report in the China Daily newspaper on April 1, 2011, several major Chinese and foreign banks, including Bank of China, ICBC and Deutsche Bank, entered into the first such option deals for a period of one year. At the initial stage, banks and companies are allowed to enter into purchase option contracts. This permission applied only to those companies that are engaged in trading in real goods/services and real investments, and not for speculative purposes. Banks involved in this business are required to have at least 3 years of experience in trading currency forwa ... Читать далее