File photo shows a worker counts Chinese currency Renminbi banknotes at a bank in Tancheng County of Linyi City, East China’s Shandong Province. Photo: Xinhua
In September, the yuan’s share in global payments reached 3.17 percent, up from the previous 2.93 percent, according to SWIFT data released on Thursday. This marks continued progress in yuan internationalization, in line with a growing adoption of yuan in cross-border transactions amid global economic transitioning, analysts said.
A recent report released by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) confirmed the yuan’s status as the world’s fifth-largest trading currency, with global transaction share of 8.5 percent, up 1.5 percentage points from 2022, the largest rise among all currencies.
Meanwhile, some other recent research reports have similarly highlighted the notable growth of yuan usage in cross-border trade settlements and trade financing between 2024 and 2025.
This trend has been noticed by Chinese exporters, who told the Global Times at the ongoing 138th Canton Fair that an increasing number of overseas customers, especially those from emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, Central Asia and Africa, are actively requesting to settle their trade in yuan.
“Many foreign customers now opt for yuan settlement. It wasn’t us who initiated it; it was the clients who proposed it,” a manager of Jiangsu Jinpeng Group Co, a producer and seller of electric tricycles, told Global Times at the company’s booth at the 138th Canton Fair.
Overall, the proportion of clients using yuan for trade settlement has surged, with the number roughly doubling, the manager said.
Analysts noted that since the launch of cross-border trade settlement in yuan in 2009, the internationalization of yuan has gained pace. Correspondingly, the institutional arrangements for the cross-border use and supporting financial infrastructure have also been continuously improved.
China Construction Bank’s recent report on yuan’s internationalization attributed the rise in its usage to international geopolitical changes, certain countries’ erecting tariff barriers, and US’ interest rate fluctuations, which have reduced emerging markets’ reliance on the US dollar.
Against this backdrop, yuan usage in cross-border transactions is steadily increasing, with the trend particularly pronounced in Global South economies. Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia are increasingly adopting the yuan as a trade settlement currency, the report said.
In June 2025, the Bank of China released its 2025 white paper on yuan internationalization, revealing that in 2024, its domestic and overseas institutions completed cross-border yuan settlements totaling over 43 trillion yuan ($6.04 trillion), a 31 percent year-on-year increase, while cross-border yuan clearing volume reached 131.4 trillion yuan, up 49 percent.
A report released by China International Capital Corporation (CICC) on September 30 further noted that the US’ abuse of the US dollar’s status and widespread tariff impositions have eroded its credibility. It argued that the US’ role as the world’s ultimate consumer will decline, deepening trade among non-US markets and reshaping international economic relations and supply chains. Financially, the weakening of the US dollar’s functions is leading to fragmentation and diversification of the global monetary system, the experts said.
Global Times