Chongqing, July 31 (Xinhua) — The People's Bank of China Chongqing Branch held a press conference on the 31st, introducing that in the first half of 2024, banks in Chongqing handled a cumulative total of 187.99 billion yuan in actual cross-border RMB receipts and payments, setting a record high for the same period in history, up 37.4% year on year; of this, cross-border RMB settlement for goods trade totaled 147.75 billion yuan, ranking first in the central and western regions and up 33.6% year on year.

It is learned that the People's Bank of China Chongqing Branch has strengthened coordination with the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce and other departments, continued to carry out in depth the special action for "first-time cross-border RMB users," and continued to advance the mechanism of liaison banks for key enterprises in cross-border RMB business, driving new progress in the city's cross-border RMB business.

In the first half of 2024, 2,292 local enterprises conducted actual cross-border RMB receipt and payment business, 400 more than in the same period of 2023, of which 465 were first-time cross-border RMB users, further expanding the coverage of cross-border RMB business.

During the same period, Chongqing's actual cross-border RMB receipt and payment business with countries jointly building the Belt and Road totaled 24.44 billion yuan, up 32.3% year on year; the actual cross-border RMB receipt and payment amount with ASEAN totaled 14.87 billion yuan, up 69.9% year on year.