A Chinese clerk counts yuan banknotes at a bank in Huaibei city, East China's Anhui province, January 22, 2015.[Photo/IC]

SYDNEY - Almost one fifth of Australian companies are using renminbi (RMB) to do business with China, a new poll has found.

The poll, commissioned by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC), was released on Tuesday.

It surveyed 1,600 decision-makers from 14 countries, showing an increase of 18 percent of Australian respondents as saying their firms were using China's yuan versus to just 13 percent a year ago.

"More than 40 percent of Australian companies believe that the yuan to be an international trading currency in the next five years, versus 29 percent in 2015," HSBC Australia's Head of Commercial Banking Steve Hughes said.

Seeking to track global perceptions of China's trade and currency, HSBC commissioned a similar survey from Nielsen in 2015 and allowing for one country change, replacing Brazil with Mexico, the comparison of the two surveys shows the number of companies using renminbi for cross-border commerce rising to 24 percent from 17 percent a year earlier.

One reason for this is that businesses are finding the yuan much easier to use, according to the 2016 survey.

As Chinese financial regulations evolve, and as businesses become more accustomed to using China's currency, respondents said they're having less difficulty understanding regulations, navigating documentary requirements and moving funds than they did in the past.

For the 2016 survey, HSBC polled decision-makers from countries in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, China's Hong Kong, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, China's Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates, Britain and the United States, who represent companies that conduct international business with or from China.