The first Renminbi (RMB) clearing centre in the region was launched on 14 April 2015 in Doha, Qatar, under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Prime Minister of Qatar and Minister of Interior.
As the first clearing centre in the region to offer RMB clearing and settlement, it will increase financial connectivity between China, Southwest Asia and the MENA region and increase opportunity to expand trade and investment between China, Qatar and the region.

The centre provides access to China’s onshore RMB and foreign exchange markets to local financial institutions, fostering cross-border use of the Renminbi in the region. Banks are now able to expand their portfolios of financial services and products through the facilitation and issuance of financial instruments such as the trading of debt market products, interest rate and commodity derivative products denominated in the RMB.
The launch of Qatar’s RMB Centre follows the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in November 2014 with the People’s Bank of China.
The Memorandum of Understanding between Qatar Central Bank and the People’s Bank of China, as well as the Currency Swap Agreement also, laid the foundations for the establishment of the first centre for RMB clearing and settlement in the region.