China's central bank has appointed Bank of China (Hong Kong) Ltd. as the clearing bank for the RMB, the yuan, to facilitate new personal services offered by Hong Kong banks, officials said Wednesday.

Until now, there had been no official clearing service for the yuan in Hong Kong. The yuan is not a fully convertible currency and local banks here have not been able to offer any services in the currency.

Although some local businesses already accept cash payments in yuan for goods purchased by visiting mainlanders, they exchange the yuan back to Hong Kong dollars through unofficial channels, such as private money exchangers.

The People's Bank of China picked the Hong Kong branch of the commercial Bank of China from a list of six Hong Kong banks, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said in a statement. The term of appointment is three years, it said.

Hong Kong's political leader Tung Chee-hwa said in November that local banks, starting early next year, will be able to offer four types of services _ credit cards, deposits, remittances and exchange transactions _ in yuan, which is also known as the renminbi, or ``people's money.''

The new services will be limited to individuals, rather than allowing corporations to convert yuan into other currencies.

As the clearing bank, Bank of China (Hong Kong) Ltd. will offer settlement accounts for Hong Kong banks, accepting and allowing withdrawal of yuan. It will also collect and distribute renminbi banknotes and provide clearing services for remittances in yuan.

Although this former British colony is now part of China, after the handover in 1997, Hong Kong and mainland China maintain separate economic and political systems.

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