budget – and who decides that – will you start a new plan or stay in the current premises? we are responsible for public money. the governing council is the body which decides on the proposal made by the executive board. we are examining the situation in view of optimizing the present situation without altering our cost estimates. 33. would you be surprised and accept it if the political leaders decided to change the ecb ’ s mandate to a dual one, with price stability and growth? that is a highly theoretical question. we have a primary mandate enshrined in a treaty which has been negotiated, signed and ratified – either by parliaments or by the people – by 27 exemplary democracies, 25 without an opting - out clause. this is the mandate that was given to us by our fellow citizens! the people of europe gave us this mandate because they rightly trust that price stability is a prerequisite for sustainable growth and job creation so that there is no contradiction but complementarity between the two. 34. given that mandate, do you think all the political leaders are helping you by explaining exactly your mission to their fellow citizens? would you expect more help from some leaders? we are fifteen countries today in the euro area and sixteen as soon as next year. one very important message for our 320 million fellow citizens is : “ we share a destiny in common! ” i see more and more political leaders and opinion leaders aware of the necessity of this message. 35. what answer do you have to pressures for instance from mr. sarkozy or mr. berlusconi? let me make three remarks. first, the ecb is fiercely independent. and the treaty says, very explicitly that governments shall not try to influence the governing council of the ecb. this independence is key to our credibility, which is in turn essential for confidence in europe. and confidence is our most precious asset, as i said. second, the most vulnerable and poorest of my fellow citizens have the biggest stake in price stability which is now the main concern of all according to the surveys. third, as regards the organisation of the relationship with authorities, whether government or parliament, we have probably the best organised and the most frequent relationships that exist at the global level. this is not sufficiently known. i invite the president of the eurogroup jean - claude juncker and the commissioner joaquin almunia to all our meetings twice a month. i am invited to all eurogroup meetings once every

together with others aimed, for instance, at increasing competition in product markets, or at making it easier for rural residents to move to china ’ s cities, should help the economy to rebalance away from investment and towards domestic consumption. from a global point of view, that is a welcome step. efficient domestic financial markets are also a prerequisite for a further liberalisation of crossborder financial flows, in particular investment flows. currently, opportunities are limited to a number of quota - based investment schemes. in december 2013, the governor of the people ’ s bank of china ( pboc ), mr zhou xiaochuan, confirmed that cross - border investment transactions will be gradually liberalised and the quota - based system in use today ultimately abolished. nonetheless, market participants should not expect the opening - up process to be absolutely smooth, and neither should they think that periods of increased volatility can be entirely avoided. they should keep a close eye on and adequately provide for the risks inherent in the onshore renminbi asset exposures they take. integrating the renminbi in the global financial system let me now turn to the internationalisation of the renminbi. the scope for its usage in international trade transactions is significant as china accounts for around 9 % of global trade in goods and services, surpassed only by the united states, which accounts for around 12 %. according to market participants, a third of china ’ s total trade will be settled in its currency by 2015. in addition, several other important developments have increased the usage of renminbi for investment purposes : ( i ) the currency is already available to the corporate sector. apart from accumulating the currency through trade, companies can also issue renminbi - denominated bonds in hong kong ( also known as dim sum bonds ) and borrow renminbi directly from banks in hong kong ; ( ii ) the pboc has already concluded currency swap agreements with 24 foreign central banks, totalling about cny 2. 6 trillion ( around €317 billion ). on 8 october 2013 the ecb and the pboc established a bilateral currency swap agreement with a maximum size of €45 billion ; ( iii ) offshore renminbi centres are progressing quickly ; and ( iv ) domestic financial markets are continuing to develop. the large state banks have all been listed, the number of institutional investors is rising and the market is becoming more diversified and liquid, paving the way for further participation by foreign investors. bis central