Yuan overtakes dollar in China’s cross-border transactions

SHANGHAI: The yuan became the most widely-used currency for crossborder transactions in China in March, overtaking the dollar for the first time, official data showed, reflecting efforts by Beijing to internationalise use of the yuan.

Cross-border payments and receipts in yuan rose to a record $549.9 billion in March from $434.5 billion a month earlier, according to calculation based on data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

The yuan was used in 48.4 percent of all cross-border transactions, it has been calculated, while the dollar’s share declined to 46.7 percent from 48.6 percent a month earlier.

The volume of cross-border transactions covers both the current and capital accounts.

China has long been promoting the use of yuan to settle cross-border trades as part of an efforts to internationalise the use of its currency.

The yuan’s use in global trade finance remains low, though it has shown steady increases.

Data from SWIFT showed that the yuan’s share of global currency transactions for trade finance rose to 4.5 percent in March, while the dollar accounted for 83.71 percent.