Fitch downgrades China's local currency debt rating outlook
A customer holds Renminbi banknotes at an ATM in a bank in Beijing November 26, 2008. China lowered interest rates on Wednesday for the fourth time since mid-September, stepping up the pace of monetary easing to help cushion the blow of the global financial crisis the world's fourth-largest economy. REUTERS

China hopes to allow all exporters and importers to settle their cross-border trades in the yuan by this year, the central bank said on Wednesday, as part of plans to grow the currency's international role.

In a statement on its website www.pbc.gov.cn, the central bank said it would respond to overseas demand for the yuan to be used as a reserve currency. It added it would also allow the yuan to flow back into China more easily.

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