China\u2019s leadership has long sought to promote the internationalisation of the renminbi<\/a>. But the comments marked Xi\u2019s clearest definition yet of his goal of a \u201cstrong currency\u201d, as well as the broader financial foundations Beijing will need to build to support it.<\/p>\n These include a \u201cpowerful central bank\u201d capable of effective monetary management, globally competitive financial institutions and international financial centres able to \u201cattract global capital and exert influence over global pricing,\u201d Xi wrote.<\/p>\n The comments were originally part of a speech Xi delivered in 2024 to top regional officials, but had not been released publicly until this week.<\/p>\n The publication of Xi\u2019s comments comes amid heightened uncertainty in global markets as a weaker US dollar \u2014 which President Donald Trump last week called a \u201cgreat\u201d development<\/a> \u2014 a change in leadership of the Federal Reserve<\/a> and geopolitical and trade tensions have prompted central banks to rethink their exposure to dollar assets.<\/p>\n \u201cChina senses the change of the global order more real than before,\u201d said Kelvin Lam, senior China+ economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. Xi\u2019s emphasis on the renminbi reflected \u201crecent ruptures in the global order\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n China\u2019s central bank governor Pan Gongsheng last year forecast<\/a> a new global currency order, telling investors, regulators and local officials in Shanghai that the renminbi would compete with other currencies in a \u201cmulti-polar international monetary system\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cBeijing wants the yuan to be a serious global currency \u2014 not necessarily to replace the dollar overnight, but to be a strategic counterweight that limits US leverage in a fracturing financial order,\u201d said Han Shen Lin, China country director at The Asia Group.<\/p>\n The renminbi has become the world\u2019s second-largest trade finance currency since Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but it plays a limited role in official reserves. As of the third quarter of 2025, the dollar accounted for about 57 per cent of global reserves, down from 71 per cent in 2000, while the euro stood at roughly 20 per cent, according to data from the IMF. The renminbi was sixth, at just 1.93 per cent. <\/p>\n Analysts said an open capital account and full convertibility were critical for global investors and central banks to hold more renminbi.<\/p>\n China\u2019s trading partners have also called for Beijing to allow a sharper appreciation of the renminbi, which they argue is undervalued, making the country\u2019s exports cheaper and helping fuel an unprecedented trade surplus that hit $1.2tn last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva late last year called on China to fix \u201cimbalances\u201d<\/a> in its economy, including deflation that she said had \u201cresulted in significant real exchange rate depreciation\u201d.<\/p>\n People\u2019s Bank of China vice-governor Zou Lan said at a conference last month that China had no intention of using a weaker renminbi to gain a trade advantage.<\/p>\n Chinese policymakers have signalled tolerance for mild appreciation<\/a>, allowing the renminbi to strengthen past Rmb7 against a weaker US dollar. But it has continued to depreciate against the euro. <\/p>\n Recommended<\/p>\n![\"Line](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/https:\/\/d6c748xw2pzm8.cloudfront.net\/prod\/8ad0dc70-ff47-11f0-87ba-f16233fb9d9b-standard.png\")
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