Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) released its official 2016 report which showed global settlements in the Chinese currency RMB declined by 29.5 percent. In 2015, the RMB held a 2.31 percent share in the global settlement volume. In 2016, the Chinese currency saw only a 1.67 percentage share in global settlements. SWIFT especially mentioned that the RMB suffered a sharp decline of 15.08 percent from November 2016 to December 2016, while all other currencies saw a growth of 0.67 percent at the same time. SWIFT Asia Pacific Regional Director Michael Moon suggested that the main cause of the sharp year-end decline was the decline in the Chinese economy, RMB exchange rate fluctuations, and China’s restrictions on capital outflow. In 2016, China just became one of the official currencies that form the IMF (International Monetary Fund) SDR (Special Drawing Rights), which was expected to improve the internationalization of the Chinese currency.
Source: Sina, January 26, 2017
http://finance.sina.com.cn/stock/usstock/c/2017-01-26/doc-ifxzyxmu8075501.shtml