China finalises rules for international payment system - sources

BEIJING, Sept 22 (Reuters) - China's central bank hascompleted drafting regulations for an international paymentsystem that would facilitate greater usage of the yuan globally,banking industry sources said on Tuesday.

The China International Payment System (CIPS) will belaunched in early October, the sources said. The system willallow large international companies doing business with China tosettle payments faster.

Among the first batch of banks qualified to participate are11 Chinese banks and eight Chinese branches of foreign banks,including HSBC, Citigroup and Standard CharteredPLC, the sources said.

The launch of CIPS will remove one of the biggest hurdles tointernationalising the yuan, and should greatly increase globaluse of the currency by cutting transaction costs and processingtimes.

The People's Bank of China did not immediately comment whencontacted by Reuters.

(Reporting by Zhao Hongmei and Nick Heath; Editing by SimonCameron-Moore)