The Impacts of Policy Infrastructures on the International Use of the Chinese Renminbi

Despite burgeoning research on the internationalization of the Chinese renminbi, there has been surprisingly little systematic analysis of how the renminbi is actually used in foreign markets. This study provides a cross-country analysis of renminbi use in offshore foreign exchange markets, with special attention to the effects of the cooperative policy measures adopted by China and foreign states to promote the renminbi’s international use. We find that a country’s participation in the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor scheme (which expands its renminbi investment opportunities) and its establishment of an offshore renminbi clearing bank (which provides better renminbi payment services), but not its entry into a renminbi–local currency swap agreement, facilitate use of the renminbi in its foreign exchange markets. States have played a significant role in the rise of the renminbi as a newly internationalizing currency.