Samsung Electronics has outlined plans to start trading renminbi in South Korea, giving a boost to the nascent local market as Seoul seeks to capitalise on China’s drive to internationalise its currency.
三星电子(Samsung Electronics)宣布计划，将开始在韩国交易人民币。在韩国希望搭上人民币国际化顺风车之际，三星此举将促进新兴的韩国人民币市场的发展。

Direct trading of the Chinese and South Korean currencies began in Seoul on December 1, reflecting increasingly close economic co-operation between the countries that is also expected to bring the conclusion of a trade agreement in the next few months.
人民币与韩元自去年12月1日开始可以直接交易，反映出两国之间的经济合作越来越密切，预计这将在未来几个月促成一项贸易协议的缔结。
Samsung said on Thursday that it would begin using the local market from March 16 to settle transactions with its subsidiaries in China, thereby becoming the first major South Korean group to make use of it.
三星周四表示，将从3月16日起，利用首尔人民币市场，结算与其在华子公司的交易，从而成为第一家利用该市场的大型韩国企业。
The entry to the market of South Korea’s biggest company, and one of the biggest investors in China, may encourage other companies to follow suit, said Choi Ji-young, director of exchange regulation at Seoul’s finance ministry.
首尔财政司汇率监管负责人Choi Ji-young表示，这家韩国最大企业、中国最大投资者之一进入该市场，可能会鼓励其他企业也这么做。
Volumes on the new market have risen steadily even without the participation of major companies. The finance ministry said average daily trading volumes this week in South Korea’s interbank won-renminbi market were about Rmb10bn ($1.6bn), compared with about $10bn on the won-dollar market.
即便没有大企业的参与，这个新市场的交易额也一直在稳步增加。首尔财政司表示，本周，韩国韩元-人民币银行间市场的平均日交易额大约为100亿元人民币(合16亿美元)，韩元-美元市场大约为100亿美元。
The official recognition last July of Seoul as an offshore renminbi trading centre, by appointing Bank of Communications as the city’s renminbi clearing bank, followed similar moves for Hong Kong, London, Frankfurt and Singapore.
去年7月，首尔正式成为人民币离岸交易中心，交通银行(Bank of Communications)成为首尔人民币清算行。此前香港、伦敦、法兰克福和新加坡都已成为人民币离岸交易中心。
Since then cities including Toronto, Bangkok and Sydney have followed, as China seeks to encourage greater international use of its currency: a trend that would reduce funding costs for its companies and help them expand abroad.
多伦多、曼谷和悉尼等城市也紧随其后成人民币离岸交易中心。中国希望鼓励扩大人民币在国际市场的使用范围，以降低中国企业的融资成本并帮助它们在海外扩张。
South Korea hopes that the growth of a renminbi market in Seoul could reduce currency transaction costs for its companies’ trade and investment transactions with China, which is by far the country’s biggest trading partner.
韩国希望，首尔人民币市场的壮大能够降低韩国企业与中国的贸易和投资间的外汇交易成本。中国是目前韩国最大的贸易伙伴国。
But Mr Choi said that the key development for the market would be greater use of the renminbi for trade settlement: only 1.7 per cent of South Korea’s exports to China by value in February were settled in renminbi, and only 1 per cent of imports.
Choi Ji-young表示，该市场的重要进展将是扩大人民币在贸易结算中的使用：今年2月，在韩国对华出口中，只有1.7%以人民币结算，在韩国进口中只有1%以人民币结算。