BEIJING - An index released by Bank of China (BOC) on Wednesday showed that the yuan became more popular in cross-border and overseas use in the first quarter.

The Cross-border RMB Index (CRI), an indicator of the currency's activities in cross-border and overseas transactions, hit a record 278 points in the first three months, surging by 47 percent year on year.

The BOC said demand for the Chinese currency from the overseas market had grown.

The BOC is the country's major channel for the yuan's cross-border circulation and has been working on the popularization of the currency as China seeks to promote the use of the currency in the global market.

In the first quarter, the BOC's cross-border settlement in yuan soared by 71 percent year on year to 1.49 trillion yuan ($240.3 billion).

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