Taiwan RMB clearance likely to launch by CNY

With the signing of a cross-strait memorandum of understanding on currency at the end of August, China's central bank assigned Bank of China's Taipei branch as a yuan clearance institute.

Analysts expect the service will be likely launched before Chinese new year. Insiders from Taiwan's financial industry say the deposit rates of RMB will not be too different with the rates of the New Taiwan Dollar. They predict the fixed one-year deposit rate of the RMB will be about one percent.

They're also expecting more yuan-denominated products, such as funds and bonds, will be issued in Taiwan once yuan deposits reach a certain level. Taiwan is considered to be a competitive alternative to Hong Kong, as a future offshore RMB hub.