Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ has used yuan to settle China-related transactions for the first time since Beijing allowed limited use of the currency in settling foreign trade last July, an official of the Japanese bank said Thursday.
BTMU, a core unit of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., mediated money transfers from Chinese units of DIC Corp. to the Tokyo head office of Japan's largest ink producer Wednesday, the officials said.
DIC let its Chinese subsidiaries pay in yuan on a trial basis to save them the trouble of converting the Chinese currency into dollars or yen before sending the money to Japan.
As yuan cannot be used for transactions in Japan, BTMU converted the yuan-based remittances into dollars, which were then transferred to the bank account of the Japanese parent firm, the officials said.
Foreign companies operating in China typically conduct trade settlements in dollars. Beijing made the currency deregulation move to promote the use of yuan in international trade.