China is considering a dramatic relaxation of its capital controls over the next few years as part of an accelerated push to make its currency freely trade-able, despite international advisers warning against hasty implementation of reform.

With Beijing pressing for a bigger international role for its currency, speculation is swirling about when it will fully open its capital account. This reform would allow businesses, investors and individuals to trade the renminbi across China’s borders with no significant barriers, a liberalisation necessary for the Chinese currency to emerge as a global rival to the dollar.

At a Chinese central bank conference earlier this year, whose proceedings were previously unreported, Guan Tao, a director-general in the State Administration of Foreign Exchange and an architect of China’s exchange rate reform, said Beijing should follow a two-step process to loosen constraints on its currency.