SOME countries are already using the Chinese yuan in their foreign currency reserves without announcing it publicly, China’s central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan said Saturday.

    While the yuan has begun to be used as a reserve currency for several years, some countries “may not be willing to say so,” Zhou told reporters on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington.

    China has stepped up efforts to promote the yuan’s use overseas since the global financial crisis, as expansion in China’s economy provides more clout while Europe has yet to fully recover.

    The European Central Bank (ECB) will discuss this week whether to begin laying the groundwork to add the Chinese yuan to its foreign currency reserves, Bloomberg reported Friday.

    “It’s good that more countries are willing to adopt the renminbi as a reserve currency as our economy grows and our financial reforms continue,” said Zhou, responding to ECB’s consideration of adding yuan to its reserves. Renminbi is the official name of the yuan.

    The yuan has improved its ranking for global payments to seventh in July from fourteenth about two years ago, according to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications. The currency has risen 11 percent against the U.S. dollar since 2009.

    “Some homework” remains for China to do to promote its currency globally, including making the yuan freely convertible in a gradual manner, and furthering efforts to “respect market demand and supply and maintain financial stability,” according to Zhou.

    Nigeria and Belarus are two countries that already use the yuan in their foreign currency reserves. Zhou said Saturday that some developed countries are using the yuan. (SD-Agencies)