Trade with China is booming, and more and more corporate management teams are considering using the renminbi (RMB) to settle transactions with Chinese customers and suppliers. In this trend, though, large companies based in the United States are playing catch-up. These are a few of the findings in HSBC's recent "RMB Internationalisation Study 2015."

HSBC talked to executives in 1,610 businesses in 14 markets around the world. Among all respondents, 54 percent said they expect their cross-border trade with China to increase over the next year (survey respondents from Chinese companies were asked about expectations for growth in their cross-border trade with foreign businesses). In the United States, that proportion is even higher: Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of U.S.-based respondents said they expect their company's level of cross-border business with China to increase in the next year, up from 55 percent in 2014.

Because of anticipated growth in trade with China, and because the Chinese government continues to relax restrictions on the RMB, nearly one quarter of all surveyed executives (22 percent)—and 19 percent of U.S.-based executives—said their company's management team has discussed the RMB as a potential business enabler or opportunity.