Taiwan’s central bank had accumulated a record 17.54 billion yuan (HK$ 21.5 billion) by the end of August after a year of steady growth, largely because of business from offshore banks.

More inflows of the currency are expected as exchange gets easier.

The mainland is Taiwan’s largest trading partner but until recently, trade was limited by icy political relations. Yuan transactions were seldom made just five years ago.

Taiwan is the latest market jockeying with Hong Kong, London and Singapore to be the main offshore yuan trade settlement centre.