Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to China would help the finance sector of Pakistan to boost cooperation with China and improve the balance of trade, said Shaikh Muhammad Shariq, Gwadar Pro reported on Thursday quoting Chief Representative of the National Bank of Pakistan in China. “China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) serves as an important platform for internationalising the RMB, boosting its use both as a trade and financing currency. Modernising the trading routes along B&R should not only increase RMB cross-border trade with these countries, but also further promote the currency in the offshore market, and will increase liquidity in those countries thereby enabling further RMB business”, he added. He further said that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, commonly known as CPEC, being one of BRI’s main elements, offers a textbook example of how China and BRI partner countries can advance cooperation over the use of RMB. “With existing and potential trade volumes between China and Pakistan on the rise, the internationalisation of RMB is one of the keys to cost-efficient economic growth for both countries and more cooperation in the banking sector is expected”, Shariq mentioned. He said that the increased bilateral trade between Pakistan and China and the volume of investments under CPEC have opened up possibilities for replacing US dollars with RMB in bilateral trade. “China and Pakistan signed a bilateral free trade agreement in 2007 and bilateral trade grew rapidly over the following decade.