SEOUL - The Chinese currency usage in South Korea for trade settlement hit a new high in the third quarter amid lower demand for the US dollar and the Japanese yen, central bank data showed Wednesday.

The portion of the dollar in export settlement came to 86.1 percent of the total during the July-September period, down 0.1 percentage point from the previous three-month period, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The yen portion slid 0.2 percentage points from three months earlier to a record low of 2.7 percent in the third quarter, but the rate for the yuan increased 0.3 percentage points to a new high of 1.2 percent.

The lower demand for the dollar and the yen was attributable to a fall in exports to the United States and Japan, which slumped 8.9 percent and 12.9 percent each in the third quarter from three months earlier.

The portion of the dollar in import settlement was unchanged at 81.8 percent in the third quarter. The figure for the yen declined 0.2 percentage points to 5.3 percent, but the yuan portion rose 0.1 percentage point to a record high of 0.7 percent.