KUNMING — The cumulative amount of cross-border renminbi settlement in Southwest China's Yunnan province reached around 53.6 billion yuan (about $8.38 billion) in the first three quarters of this year, according to a local branch of the country's central bank.

The figure marked a year-on-year surge of 17.7 percent in the period, according to the Kunming Central Sub-branch of the People's Bank of China in Kunming, the provincial capital.

Of the total amount, the cross-border renminbi settlement under current accounts logged 31.35 billion yuan, down 5.5 percent year-on-year, while the settlement under capital accounts reached nearly 22.25 billion yuan, up 80.2 percent year-on-year.

The decrease in the cross-border renminbi settlement between Yunnan and neighboring countries of Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand, which fell by 29.9, 9 and 5.6 percent year-on-year, respectively, was mainly attributed to the COVID-19 control measures in the countries.

Driven by railway and highway infrastructure projects between Yunnan and Laos, the cross-border renminbi settlement with Laos surged by 136.9 percent compared with the same period, according to the bank.

Yunnan started piloting the cross-border renminbi settlement in 2010. Since then, the network has covered 16 cities, prefectures and 21 border checkpoints, radiating to South and Southeast Asia. By the end of September, Yunnan's accumulated renminbi settlement business with 106 countries and regions worldwide reached 642.19 billion yuan.