China’s commercial rivals could be forgiven a wry smile at the central bank official who has assured the world that Chinese companies were “gradually becoming used to” a stronger renminbi. Critics – who insist that China is gaining an unfair advantage in world trade because the renminbi is still heavily undervalued – will have zero admiration for this alleged resilience.

It’s all part of the largely predictable rhetoric from both sides ahead of president Hu Jintao’s visit to the US next week. But what about that other flank of currency policy, the internationalisation of the renminbi? Does it have anything to do with the currency’s value?

China has just taken a further step towards internationalisation by allowing domestic companies to move the renminbi offshore for investment purposes, as the FT reports on Friday. Hong Kong, meanwhile, has a small but fast-growing market for renminbi-denominated financial products that is open to international investors.