Gateway to Europe

London, for example, received an RQFII quota of 80 billion yuan ($13.02 billion) last year, agreed during British Chancellor George Osborne's visit to China. Luxembourg's Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna recently expressed confidence that he would be able to clinch an RQFII deal during his upcoming China visit.

Aside from the government efforts, private players in Luxembourg and other cities are also quickly warming to new renminbi products and services and ready to prove their capabilities and generate revenue from the investment opportunities, Gao says.

ICBC Europe helps many Chinese and European traders to finance and invoice their transactions in the renminbi currency. It also helps businesses to manage their offshore renminbi accumulated as a result of business transactions.

ICBC Europe, Gao says, also helps European companies to issue renminbi bonds and cites the example of the 750 million yuan renminbi bond its client Renault SA issued last year, along with ICBC Asia in Hong Kong.

Other examples of cross-border renminbi services ICBC Europe provides include renminbi deposits, loans, foreign exchange and derivatives trading, remittances and liquidity support for renminbi accounts.

ICBC Europe's revenue from renminbi businesses has grown to 35 percent of its total profits for the year ending Dec 31, 2013, as a result of high demand for yuan businesses in Europe. Nearly 24 percent of ICBC Europe's assets are now denominated in renminbi, say bank officials.

In 2011, ICBC Europe became the first European-domiciled bank to be approved by the People's Bank of China to enter the China Inter Bank Bond Market.

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