SHANGHAI -- China's yuan settlement in cross-border trade topped 530 billion yuan ($81.54 billion) in the first four months of 2011, said an official with the central bank on Thursday.

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This was about 5 percent of China's total foreign trade in the same period, said Li Bo, head of the Monetary Policy Department II of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, at the Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai.

The January-April yuan settlement in cross-border trade was slightly higher than the total volume last year, Li said.

China's yuan settlement in cross-border trade hit 500 billion yuan last year, which was about 2 percent of the total foreign trade last year, Li said.

Since its introduction in July 2009, the yuan settlement in cross-border trade has developed rapidly, despite its still low percentage in the country's total foreign trade, Li said.