HSBC China has launched Renminbi cross-border trade settlement services to all of its branches across 24 cities in the country.

The move effectively gives the bank the widest coverage of RMB cross-border trade services among all foreign banks in the Mainland, the company said in a statement. HSBC introduced a pilot initiative to a few provinces in 2009 and in August decided to expand its offering to cover all cities. The firm has forecast that over half of China's trades with emerging markets will be settled in RMB by 2015. At present, money market funds account for five per cent of the fund industry in China.

"We are seeing the appetite for RMB as a trade settlement currency grow as businesses become more aware of its benefits. China's official statistics show that RMB trade accounted for over eight per cent of China's total trade in the first half of 2011, compared to only 2.5 per cent in 2010. Offshore RMB deposits are also expected to reach RMB1 trillion by the end of 2011," said Magnus Montan, the head of international business for HSBC China.

The expansion complements the launch of the HSBC Jintrust RMB Money Market Fund early this week, which is the initiative of the bank's Mainland-based subsidiary HSBC Jintrust Fund Management Company. The initial public offering period for the fund is scheduled for 10 to 28 October 2011. (See related story here.)

HSBC is not the only foreign bank scrambling to take advantage of the forecast investor surge into RMB-denominated funds. Over the past months, the likes of UBS Wealth Management, Citibank, Barclays Wealth and Julius Baer have launched their own versions of RMB-linked products in the Mainland.