The state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) will conduct yuan clearing business in Bangkok, Thailand, the People's Bank of China, the nation's central bank, said on January 6.

The authorization came after an agreement between the two central banks. On December 22, 2014, the two extended a currency swap agreement worth 70 billion yuan ($11.4 billion).

The ICBC Thailand branch has been the largest Chinese bank in the country since it acquired ACL Bank in 2010.

Yuan clearing overseas has become a driving force behind the globalization of the currency. Clearing is now authorized in Hong Kong and Macao, as well as in Doha, Frankfurt, Kuala Lumpur, London, Luxembourg, Paris, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney and Toronto.

A founding member of ASEAN, Thailand is China's third largest trading partner in the regional grouping, with bilateral trade totaling over $71 billion in 2013.

Fuel Surcharges Cut

Chinese airlines cut fuel surcharges for domestic flights due to a decline in fuel prices on January 5.

Starting from January 5, major airlines, including Shandong Airlines and Xiamen Airlines, have reduced surcharges for domestic routes of 800 km or less to 10 yuan ($1.63) from the current 30 yuan ($4.83). The surcharges for routes longer than 800 km will be cut to 30 yuan from 60 yuan ($9.66).

This marks the fifth time Chinese airlines have cut fuel surcharges since September 2014, and prices are now at a five-year low.

China has cut the retail prices of gasoline and diesel 10 times since July 2014 in line with reductions in the prices of crude oil.

Credit Collection

China's central bank said on January 5 that it has told eight non-bank institutions that they should get ready to conduct personal credit information operations within six months. The companies include subsidiaries of Internet giants Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd.

"A broad-based, market-oriented personal credit database is being developed in China with the participation of institutions outside the traditional banking sector," the central bank said in a statement.

The move is aimed at promoting development of credit information and laying a stronger foundation for personal financial transactions.

According to the central bank, there had been 436 million credit cards in use in China as of September 30, 2014, compared with the country's total population of 1.36 billion.

As many people do not have such cards, commercial banks can only provide limited information on their credit, which makes it difficult for these consumers to get loans, said Yang Tao, a researcher at the Institute of Finance and Banking at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"Today, an increasing number of transactions and payments are done through e-commerce platforms and various terminals of third-party payment companies. They all leave traces of information to support credit evaluation by commercial banks," said Yang.

Wu Qing, deputy director of banking research at the Development Research Center of the State Council, said that Internet companies such as Alibaba and Tencent are capable of rating personal credit based on big data analysis, which in turn will compensate for the weakness of commercial banks.