(Photo by Xinhua)

Cross-border settlement in Chinese currency in south China's Guangdong Province hit a new high in 2019, a local branch of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, said Sunday.

Cross-border renminbi (RMB) settlement in the trade hub grew to 3.26 trillion yuan (about 464 billion U.S. dollars) in 2019, thanks in part to the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, according to the PBOC Guangzhou branch.

In 2019, cross-border RMB settlement occurred in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area reached 2.32 trillion yuan, up 17.3 percent from 2018.

In July 2009, China approved a pilot program for cross-border trade settlement in RMB, embarking on the internationalization process of the Chinese currency.