China has brought forward its timing to eliminate restrictions on trading its currency, as its use in other countries accelerates.
People's Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan said this week Beijing will push for full convertibility in 2015, after last year saying it would happen in the next two to three years.
That means the renminbi will be able to be traded without restrictions on the amount exchanged, or central bank approval for the use of large amounts, HSBC Australia head of commercial banking James Hogan said.
It makes sense for restrictions on the renminbi to be lifted because more non-Chinese businesses are showing greater trust in the currency, he said.
"The renminbi is now the second most used currency, this time last year it was the fourth most used currency," Mr Hogan said.
"People are more comfortable in dealing with renminbi now."
The move to full convertibility is an important step towards the Chinese currency being fully floated like the Australian dollar, he said.
Mr Hogan expects the renminbi to be traded on the open market in two years.
It is currently only allowed to trade in a fairly narrow band set by China's central bank.
In Australia, 13 per cent of companies use the renminbi for cross border business, up from the nine per cent reported in 2014, a survey commissioned by HSBC showed.
In 2013, the first year of the survey, that was just seven per cent.
Australian adoption of the Chinese currency is now close to Singapore and South Korea's rate of 15 per cent, and is set to increase further in coming years.
According to the HSBC survey, 20 per cent of current non users are planning to settle international business in the renminbi in the next three years.
"Gone are the days where people saw the renminbi as a one-way bet, it would only depreciate," Mr Hogan said.
"What you're now seeing is there's a greater level of maturity."
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