BEIJING, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese currency or Renminbi (RMB) has built a bigger international presence in the past months of 2025.
Apart from stable increases in cross-border use, widespread favor towards RMB-denominated bonds and the lively offshore markets are pointing to active developments in RMB's international drive.
Since this December, addition of RMB into the settlement currencies basket of International Air Transport Association (IATA) Clearing House has allowed airlines and other suppliers, especially those operating in China, to use RMB for settlements.
In early July, Egyptian Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, Hassan El Khatib, announced that "Egypt will allow Chinese companies to register using the yuan in financial transactions, under the Central Bank of Egypt's support."
Such cases are largely attributable to the increasing and more frequent use of RMB in cross-border trade and investment activities in the past days of 2025.
From January to June, banks in China completed on behalf of their clients RMB cross-border payment and receipt of 34.9 trillion yuan, up 14.0 percent year on year, showed the 2025 RMB Internationalization Report of the People's Bank of China, the Chinese central bank.
Currently, RMB has been the world's second most used currency in trade financing and the third most used in payments based on full-caliber calculations, according to the Chinese central bank.
In London, 6 billion yuan of RMB-denominated green sovereign bonds sold by China in April received as high as 6.9 times of subscriptions, hinting global investors' confidence in Chinese sovereign bonds.
By mid-December, dim sum bonds or RMB-denominated bonds sold in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ballooned and the issuance spree is the latest testimony of the increasing popularity of RMB in global financial markets.
Behind this stands three boosters, namely the trade and industrial foundation as the fundamental, the rules and market vehicles as the accelerator and the changing global currency system as the external window.
First of all, China holds a firm foothold in global supply chain and China's growing foreign trade makes settlement through RMB one of the optimal choices to reduce trading costs.
Sustained growth of foreign trade, in particular that with the Global South countries, and more and more RMB-denominated settlement in trade represent an important driving force for the internationalization of RMB.
Secondly, bilateral currency swap agreements, RMB clearing banks and the expanded service coverage of the Cross-border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) co-pillared the faster international drive of RMB.
When Türkiye's first RMB clearing bank, operated by the Turkish branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, opened in Istanbul this November, RMB clearing services kicked off there.
Osman Celik, Turkish Deputy Minister of Treasury and Finance said the RMB clearing bank will help reduce trade risks and transaction costs while fostering opportunities in trade, investment, and long-term financing.
Thirdly, diversification of reserve assets by countries is going on and RMB assets have been a favored option for global investors to diversify their assets portfolios, say experts.
Since the beginning of 2025, exchange rates of RMB have been resilient, standing for greater resilience and flexibility in offsetting external shocks, held Li Zhenlong, senior economist at Bank of China's London branch.
As the 2025 Global Public Investor (GPI) report of Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) tells, RMB assets are one of the choices for reserve holders to diversify their assets in next decade.
Generally, the OMFIF's flagship GPI report highlights the latest trends in foreign exchange reserve management through its annual survey of over 70 central banks across the world.
Changes in global reserve currencies historically lag behind shifts in economic power, said Mihaly Varga, the Hungarian central bank governor previously, adding that "While the rise of the renminbi is a longer-term process, the diversification of the global financial system has clearly begun."
(Edited by Duan Jing with Xinhua Silk Road, duanjing@xinhua.org)
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