operating as of today and represents a further important step in opening the capital account and liberalising financial flows. the growth in cross - border transactions has also led to an increasing volume of rmb circulating outside china, giving rise to local rmb markets, in asia and in the euro area. in response to these developments, many central banks have established a bilateral currency swap arrangement with the people ’ s bank of china ( pbc ). in october 2013, the ecb signed a bilateral currency swap arrangement with the pbc with maximum sizes of 45 billion euros when euro are provides euros to the pbc and 350 billion yuan when yuans are provided to the ecb. from the ecb ’ s perspective, the swap line serves as a backstop facility to address sudden and temporary disruptions in the rmb market owing to liquidity shortages, so as to reassure market participants that a safety net is in place to address possible future market malfunctioning and reassure euro area banks regarding the continuous provision of rmb. after having launched direct trading between the renminbi and a number foreign currencies in china ’ s onshore forex market over the last few years, direct trading between the euro and the onshore renminbi was launched in september 2014. this has the potential to reduce transaction costs, enhance the price discovery of the 16. 5 % vs 16. 3 % for the us, imf world economic outlook, october 2014. bis central bankers ’ speeches eur / cny exchange rate and ultimately improve the functioning of the global financial system. considering the rise of china in the global economy, the extent of its external trade and the continuing development of its domestic financial markets, it is no surprise that also the number of payments and financial transactions being conducted between parties in china and elsewhere has been growing rapidly. five years ago, the use of rmb in trade settlement was marginal, but according to swift statistics, it is now already the seventh most popular payment currency, accounting for 1. 72 % of global payments in september 2014. this might not sound like a lot, but the growth rates are impressive ; and it is worth noting that even the fourth most popular currency, the japanese yen, only accounts for 2. 74 % of global payments. the rmb as an invoicing currency for international trade has also been growing sharply : nowadays, about 25 % of chinese trade is invoiced in rmb, up from less than 2 % in 2011. looking forward

mario draghi : significant progress in 2012 and prospects for 2013 address by mr mario draghi, president of the european central bank, at the new year ’ s reception of the frankfurt chamber of commerce and industry, frankfurt am main, 22 january 2013. * * * minister - president bouffier, lord mayor feldmann, president muller, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great pleasure for me to be here with you this evening, and i would like to thank the chamber of commerce and industry very warmly for inviting me. i am pleased to meet many representatives of the business community and public life of the region rhein - main and frankfurt, the city in which the ecb is so well hosted and where i also feel personally very comfortable. a new year ’ s reception is always the occasion to look back on what has happened in the past year and to look forward to what lies ahead. 2012 was a year full of challenges. yet it was also a year of surprises and new beginnings. we began the year in an environment of exceptional uncertainty. the euro area was faced with deep, even existential challenges. this led some experts to make bleak predictions about the future. they doubted the resilience of our economies. they worried about the stability of our single currency. they even questioned its future existence. to illustrate just how far some doubts went, let me quote the from the economist ’ s annual publication “ the world in 2012 ”, which in the autumn of 2011 said the following : “ if you were sitting down with a blank sheet of paper, you would advise the euro zone to complement its one - size - fits - all monetary policy by pooling sovereignty and creating new institutions. you would set up a european mini - imf with enough funds to assist troubled countries that adjust their economies. a pan - european banking regulator and a bail - out fund could ensure that large european banks were not at the mercy of their vulnerable sovereign borrowers. [ … ] and, to stop governments from exploiting these mechanisms, euro - zone countries would agree to submit their fiscal policies to the say - so of everyone else. it amounts to a blueprint for the united states of europe. and it is utterly beyond reach. ” 1 if we look back at 2012, on virtually all of these issues, europe is moving forward or is already there. so the ambition is not “ utterly beyond reach ”. indeed, it bears out what walter hallstein, the first president of the european commission,