BAKU, July 25 (Xinhua) -- As global infrastructure for China's currency, the yuan, continues to expand, Azerbaijan's Bank VTB said Monday it started to offer the Chinese yuan cash settlement services in the oil rich country.
The bank will provide services such as opening and maintaining of accounts and remittances in the Chinese yuan, the bank said in a statement.
For opening and maintenance of accounts, the commission is not charged, and remittances are offered at favorable rates, it said.
Operations on remittances in the Chinese yuan are carried out only in a non-cash form. The commission for transfer to an account at another bank within the VTB group is 0.5 percent of the transfer amount, said the bank, adding that an urgent transfer costs 200 yuan (30 U.S. dollars).
The move is intended to serve an increasing number of tourists and business contacts between Azerbaijan and China.
A senior official of Bank VTB in Azerbaijan, Yuri Yakovlev, said that as the weight of the yuan on the international market is growing, the interest of Azerbaijani businessmen in the Chinese market is growing as well, encouraging banks to offer the most convenient and favorable conditions of cash settlement services.
"Today Bank VTB is the only bank in the country to offer services in the Chinese yuan," he said.
Currently, one Azerbaijani manat is equal to about 4.21 Chinese yuan.
