so, for the meantime, only companies from guangxi zhuang and neighbouring yunnan province can opt to conduct cross border business in rmb. while their rmb trading partners are limited to those based in asean countries. in a nutshell, this voluntary initiative shouldn't make waves. >>tao: i think, symbolically, it's an interesting step - it's an important step. but, i think in the grand scheme of things, especially how little border trade as a share of china's total trade, i don't think it's that serious. (13) >>reporter: and small it is - even if everyone agreed to use rmb. in 2008, trade between asean and the two selected chinese regions amounted to just 3 percent of china's total 230 billion dollar trade with the bloc - or to put it another way, a mere quarter of a percent of china's 2.6 trillion dollar global total. >>: but, according to a government think tank, there's a lot more to this limited cross-border rmb plan than meets the eye. for it's actually just step one in a long term strategy to internationalise china's currency. >>xiaosong: in addition to asean, the rmb can then

but so far, ours is the only direct investor in dongxing, even in the whole of guangxi region. >>reporter: and according to analysts, vietnam is also disappointed, to say the least, with the relatively low level of direct investment from its huge neighbour - which stands, today, at around two billion dollars. >>: but the most contentious issue for vietnam concerns territory - groups of small islands and great swathes of sea - potentially rich in natural resources. and this is a long-running dispute that involves the whole region. >>mackie: the lure of oil and gas to help fund the economies of china and south east asia has created suspicion and animosity. competing claims exist regarding sovereignty over the south china sea, with china claiming.....well, most of it - and it's been prepared to use military force to expel others with ambitions in the region. >>reporter: and vietnam has borne the brunt. as yet, there's no clear-cut solution. a combination of historical claims, the actual line of a country's continental shelf plus the right to explore and exploit territory up to 200