BEIJING - The People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, announced on Wednesday that it would further expand trial cross-border yuan trade settlements across the country this year.

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The market demand for yuan cross-border use is expected to climb, along with the increasingly close integration between China and the global economy, according to a statement on the central bank's website.

China has been expanding pilot programs for cross-border trade yuan settlement since last year. The PBOC has expanded the trial scheme to 20 provincial regions so far.

China expanded its cross-border yuan trade settlement to about 67,000 exporters at the end of last year, from the original 365 firms. China's banks handled 506.3 billion yuan ($8.57 billion) of cross-border trade settlements last year.