This country is emerging to be one of China's major EU trading partners

RMB payments here increased 8.2% in May.

SWIFT data shows that Germany is ranked #8 in the world for RMB payments value (excluding China and Hong Kong), increasing by 71% between April and May 2013. It recorded the biggest increase in the top 20 countries in CNY payments.

In May 2013, 8.2% of payments between Germany and China / Hong Kong were in CNY versus 4.8% in April 2013; and only 2.4% in May 2012. SWIFT notes that the weight of customer payments is at 21% versus 79% for institutional payments. Customer payments are normally much lower, for example 5% for France in April 2013. This is probably a good reflection of the significant trade relationship between Germany and China. Germany accounted for about one third of China's total trade with the European Union during the period.

Lisa O’Connor, RMB Director at SWIFT says, “Mid last year, China and Germany said that both sides would support financial institutions and companies in the use of RMB and EUR in bilateral trade and investments. Our data shows, especially the weight of customer payments – a good proxy to imports and exports – that the RMB has gained in popularity for trade settlement.”

Compared to April 2013, the RMB remained stable in its position as #13 payment currency of the world, with a record high market share of 0.84% from 0.69%. Overall, RMB payments increased in value by 24.1% in May versus April when all currencies only increased by 1.9%.