The Chinese yuan overtakes the euro: global currency trade is changing

In September 2023, the Chinese yuan overtook the euro for the first time in history, becoming the second largest currency in global trade. According to Reuters, the yuan's share of international payments rose to 5.8%, strengthening the Chinese currency's position in global finance.

Despite this achievement, the dollar remains the leader in trade payments, with a share of 84.15% in September. Nevertheless, the growing popularity of the Chinese yuan is becoming apparent: from 4.82% in August 2023 to 5.8% in September.

The euro, which previously ranked second, is now in third place, down to 5.43% in September from 6.43% in August.

Global companies are actively investing in Chinese bonds and obtaining loans from Chinese banks, taking advantage of low interest rates in RMB. For example, German carmaker BMW and Crédit Agricole raised a record 125.5 billion yuan between January and October.

Even companies like Volkswagen Group are planning to use the funds raised from Chinese bonds only to develop their business in China.

Recently, the National Bank of Canada also took 1 billion yuan from the sale of Chinese bonds.

Although these figures indicate an increase in the use of the renminbi in global trade, analysts point to the limited use and circulation of funds received from international bonds in renminbi. The internationalization of the renminbi still needs time to fully develop.

"The internationalization of the renminbi is not going as well as the headline figures might suggest. So far, more than half of the cross-border transactions using the renminbi are made between the mainland and Hong Kong. It's a very localized form of internationalization," said Mark Williams, chief Asia economist at Capital Economics.

In trade finance and payments, the use of the renminbi is mainly limited to countries that are friendly to China, such as those joining the Belt and Road Initiative. At the same time, countries that are geopolitically inclined to support the United States are cautious about switching to the yuan.

Earlier it became known that the Indian authorities stopped paying for Russian oil in yuan, expressing dissatisfaction with the replacement of the rupee.