State-owned Bank of China has announced that it has begun offering accounts denominated in China's tightly controlled yuan in a new move to expand the currency's global reach, the Associated Press informer.

The change at the praxis of the Bank of China means that customers can trade yuan in the United States for the first time rather than having to do so in Hong Kong.

The announcement of the fourth biggest Chinese bank came ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Washington next week.

Beijing is trying to reduce reliance on the dollar by promoting the yuan, also known as the renminbi, for trade and finance. It is promoting Hong Kong, a Chinese territory with its own currency, as an offshore market for foreigners to conduct yuan business separate from the mainland, which is kept isolated from global capital flows.