KUNMING — The cumulative amount of cross-border renminbi settlement in Southwest China's Yunnan province reached around 37.68 billion yuan (about $5.8 billion) in the first half of this year, according to a local branch of the country's central bank.

The figure marked a year-on-year surge of 41.88 percent in the period, according to the Kunming Central Sub-branch of the People's Bank of China in the provincial capital Kunming.

Of the total amount, the cross-border renminbi settlement under current accounts exceeded 21.1 billion yuan, up 7.62 percent year-on-year, mainly due to the increase in trade settlement with Vietnam and Laos.

The settlement under capital accounts reached nearly 16.57 billion yuan, up 138.6 percent year-on-year.

The growth in the cross-border renminbi settlement was mainly driven by the booming trade between Yunnan and Vietnam and China-Laos infrastructure projects, 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 June, Yunnan's accumulated renminbi settlement business with 101 countries and regions worldwide reached 626.25 billion yuan.