On June 22 ICBC Beijing settled the import payment for a Sinopec's subsidiary via RMB telegraphic transfer. This T/T payment for the settlement of cross-border trade in RMB was the first in Beijing, also the first such settlement made by ICBC on June 22 when the government included more cities in the pilot, from the former 5 cities including Shanghai and 4 in Guangdong Province to 20 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) including Beijing, Tianjin, Jiangsu and others.

Nearly in the same instance ICBC Jiangsu concluded two RMB settlements. First was a remittance of RMB 1 million on behalf of Nanjing Iron and Steel Group International Trade Co., Ltd to settle the payment to its commercial partner in Hong Kong. The other was a usance L/C of 6 million yuan opened to the trading partner of Rugao City Shuangma Chemical Co., Ltd. in Singapore. Within one day on June 22, ICBC Shandong also settled a total of RMB 193 million for the import and export of the customers. The amount was 90% of all cross-border RMB settlements in Shandong province. According to the statistics, on June 22 ICBC settled the most number and highest amount of RMB cross-border trades among the peers in all the new pilot cities.

Cross-border RMB settlement is an option to settle the import and export where RMB is the currency used for contract signing, customs clearance and payment. The option brings numerous benefits to the enterprises engaged in foreign trade meaning less financial cost, minimal exchange rate risk and higher efficiency in the use of funds. From a macro perspective, cross-border RMB settlement is very significant to promote the prosperity of China's foreign trade from the trading conditions, consistent growth, RMB internationalization to China's economic status in the world. Since the pilot started in July last year, ICBC leverages on its leadership in the settlement and clearing of RMB, extensive service network across the globe and advanced technological platform to extend its reach to the customers and market. As of today, ICBC has settled a total amount of 10 billion yuan of cross-border trades.

ICBC is among the first batch of commercial banks opening the business. As related by the ICBC spokesperson, ICBC cross-border RMB settlement service covers all the settlement options in import and export. That includes remittance, collection, letter of credit and the others, as well as designing of financial planning proposal for the customers in trade finance or the use of cross-border RMB funds. Application of the ICBC cross-border RMB settlement service is easy. Import enterprises in the pilot areas just apply. No need to get approval from the government. Export enterprises have to get approval from the government first, and then open settlement account in ICBC branches located in the pilot areas. Meanwhile, ICBC offers consultancy and training services for foreign-trade enterprises and overseas banks to understand the management policy and service steps related to settlement of cross-border trades using RMB.

The ICBC spokesperson continued that ICBC will fully embrace State policy to move forward the business. ICBC is taking this opportunity to escalate its international footprint and global service by building a worldwide RMB clearing network.