The yuan was used in 49% of China’s cross-border transactions made by companies and institutional investors in the April-June quarter, topping the dollar’s share for the first time.
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, better known as SWIFT, reports that as of June the dollar’s share is the largest globally at 42.02%, including trades between countries other than China.
The yuan represented 2.77% and ranked fifth overall after the euro, the U.K. pound and the Japanese yen.
The yuan’s share of global payments remains small compared with the size of China’s economy, but is up from 1.81% about five years ago. Bilateral payments, backed by China’s economic influence, have gradually expanded its foothold.
Cross-border settlements in the Chinese currency totaled 42.1 trillion yuan ($5.85 trillion) in 2022, the People’s Bank of China reports. Capital transactions accounted for 31.6 trillion yuan, or about 75%, with current-account transactions such as trade making up the rest.
Source: Nikkei Asia
