https://www.scmp.com/rss/521811/feed The latest news and top stories on Cross-border Interbank Payment System. A prominent Shanghai based financial market infrastructure, the Cross-border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) is dedicated to offering clearing and settlement services for cross-border yuan transactions. Authorised by the People’s Bank of China, its main areas of focus include facilitating international RMB payments, supporting trade investment and individual remittances. CIPS is recognised for its pivotal role in... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Hao Nan Hao Nan In the span of a few days earlier this month, developments that usually sit in separate policy compartments began to converge. Abu Dhabi’s crown prince arrived in Beijing as President Xi Jinping used the visit to set out China’s four-point position on the Iran war. Pakistan, now central to keeping US-Iran diplomacy alive, said no date was fixed for the next round of talks. Washington escalated pressure on buyers of Iranian oil and the banks handling related funds. Reports circulated of yuan use... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3350916/us-dollar-subtler-shift-petroyuan-order-underfoot?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3350916/us-dollar-subtler-shift-petroyuan-order-underfoot?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Apr 2026 08:30:08 +0000 Mark Magnier Mark Magnier China has crafted markets, mechanisms and incentives as the world’s largest buyer of commodities in a bid to free itself from its dependence on the US dollar, but the biggest threat to Washington’s global dollar dominance may well be Washington itself, witnesses said in testimony on Thursday before a key advisory committee to the US Congress. Economic sanctions and access to US-led global banking systems are a powerful US tool that can be used to great effect, said experts before the US-China... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/economy-trade-business/article/3350382/why-biggest-threat-us-global-dollar-dominance-may-well-be-washington-itself?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/economy-trade-business/article/3350382/why-biggest-threat-us-global-dollar-dominance-may-well-be-washington-itself?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Apr 2026 23:42:50 +0000 Xinyi Wu Xinyi Wu Faltering confidence in the US dollar has handed China a “golden window of opportunity” to promote the global use of its currency, according to a former head of the Chinese central bank. “The core driving force behind the current changes in the international monetary system is the United States’ own policy choices,” Zhou Xiaochuan was quoted as saying in a report published on Sunday by the New Economist, a Chinese think tank. He cited the broad application of American tariffs, the frequent use... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3349868/yuans-golden-window-open-former-pboc-governor-says-us-dollar-credibility-teeters?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3349868/yuans-golden-window-open-former-pboc-governor-says-us-dollar-credibility-teeters?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Apr 2026 06:59:34 +0000 Sylvia Ma Sylvia Ma Rising demand for yuan settlement amid Middle East tensions is driving record transaction amounts in China’s cross-border payment system, analysts said, building on years of efforts to bolster financial infrastructure and expand its global network. “The Middle East conflict may have acted as a catalyst,” said Ding Shuang, chief economist for Greater China and North Asia at Standard Chartered, citing rising demand for yuan settlement, particularly in oil trade. China’s Cross-border Interbank... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3349516/chinas-yuan-settlements-hit-record-and-iran-conflict-looking-catalyst?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3349516/chinas-yuan-settlements-hit-record-and-iran-conflict-looking-catalyst?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Apr 2026 13:00:12 +0000 Sylvia Ma Sylvia Ma Mainstream metrics may understate the role of China’s currency in global payments, as a growing share of transactions is now routed through Beijing’s own cross-border payment system and not fully reflected in conventional data sets, analysts say. This could help explain the gap between Beijing’s official narrative – which describes the yuan as the world’s third-largest payment currency – and readings from tracking systems such as the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3348907/chinas-yuan-may-be-going-global-faster-western-data-suggests-analysts-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3348907/chinas-yuan-may-be-going-global-faster-western-data-suggests-analysts-say?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Apr 2026 15:00:07 +0000 Xinyi Wu Xinyi Wu China’s recent changes to the rules governing its global payment system could pave the way for turning it into a genuine alternative to Western networks, according to a new report. Beijing now appears to be moving towards building the Cross-border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) into a global platform compliant with multicurrency settlements and other foreign payment channels, said the study led by Ju Jiandong, a chair professor at Tsinghua University’s PBC School of Finance. Beijing recently... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3347053/how-china-opened-door-creating-direct-rival-us-payment-systems?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3347053/how-china-opened-door-creating-direct-rival-us-payment-systems?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Mar 2026 02:00:07 +0000 Sylvia Ma Sylvia Ma China should leverage bilateral and multilateral deals to accelerate the adoption of its cross-border payment system, a prominent political adviser has urged, as concerns deepen over the potential for intensified “financial weaponisation” in a global payment system centred around the US dollar. “Given escalating geopolitical conflicts, frequent financial sanctions and a growing trend of financial weaponisation, the risk of ‘payment chain disruptions’ caused by excessive reliance on external... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3344727/whats-next-chinas-yuan-payment-system-adviser-banks-close-trade-partners?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3344727/whats-next-chinas-yuan-payment-system-adviser-banks-close-trade-partners?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Feb 2026 12:00:09 +0000 Sylvia Ma Sylvia Ma Interest in de-dollarisation has spiked in Chinese academic and policy circles, as Beijing grows increasingly wary of the United States’ potential to weaponise its currency. The surge has been most visible in the volume of research. A search by the South China Morning Post on China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), one of the country’s largest academic research databases, showed the number of papers on the subject more than doubled from 2023 to 2025 compared with the preceding three... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3341876/trade-war-global-instability-push-de-dollarisation-chinas-academic-mainstream?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3341876/trade-war-global-instability-push-de-dollarisation-chinas-academic-mainstream?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Feb 2026 00:00:10 +0000 Ji Siqi,Xiaofei Xu Ji Siqi,Xiaofei Xu In an effort to further promote the internationalisation of China’s currency, Beijing has pledged to expand the use of its digital yuan, including by establishing a cross-border payment pilot with Singapore. The measures, announced by the People’s Bank of China on Wednesday, are tied to a broader financial support plan for China’s New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor – a trade and logistics network, launched in 2017, that links landlocked cities in western China with hundreds of global... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3337642/china-expands-digital-yuan-push-singapore-and-asean-trade-routes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3337642/china-expands-digital-yuan-push-singapore-and-asean-trade-routes?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Dec 2025 11:30:09 +0000 Kashif Hasan Khan Kashif Hasan Khan The United States’ use of its currency as a foreign policy tool has jolted much of the Global South. Sanctions, financial restrictions and US dominance over the Swift system have shown just how much the US dollar can be used as political leverage. For many emerging economies, the US is no longer their main trade and investment partner, yet its currency still underpins their transactions. This disconnect has imbued with fresh urgency the efforts of the Brics grouping to explore alternative... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3328191/brics-slowly-surely-chipping-away-us-dollar-dominance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3328191/brics-slowly-surely-chipping-away-us-dollar-dominance?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Oct 2025 08:30:08 +0000 Mark Lam Pui Chung Mark Lam Pui Chung For decades, cross-border trade in the Asia-Pacific has been denominated in US dollars. Given the currency’s relative stability and accessibility, small and medium-sized businesses, merchants and manufacturers looking to expand across borders traditionally conducted international trade in the US dollar. For instance, a Shenzhen manufacturer in China paying its Indonesian supplier would convert yuan to US dollars for the payment, which when received will be converted to Indonesian rupiah, and... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3327285/why-asia-pacific-rewriting-terms-trade-dollar-yuan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3327285/why-asia-pacific-rewriting-terms-trade-dollar-yuan?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Oct 2025 01:30:08 +0000 Junjie Wang Junjie Wang – https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3323132/chinas-push-globalise-yuan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3323132/chinas-push-globalise-yuan?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Aug 2025 03:27:52 +0000 SCMP Editorial SCMP Editorial Barely a month after Australia’s Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited China to improve relations put on ice by his Liberal predecessor, the Bank of China announced it was leading the country’s largest syndicated, yuan-denominated loan to a foreign firm. Perth-based Fortescue is the world’s fourth-largest iron ore producer and China has long been its best customer, so the loan, worth a record 14.2 billion yuan (US$1.98 billion), makes good sense. The diplomatic thaw is bearing fruit. But... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3322499/record-yuan-loan-australian-miner-makes-good-sense?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3322499/record-yuan-loan-australian-miner-makes-good-sense?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Aug 2025 22:45:06 +0000 Xinyi Wu Xinyi Wu China has passed another milestone in its efforts to promote the global use of its currency, with the Australian metals giant Fortescue agreeing to borrow a record 14.2 billion yuan (US$1.98 billion) in a syndicated loan agreement arranged by one of China’s biggest state-owned banks. The deal is the first ever offshore yuan syndicated loan to an Australian company and the largest ever to a non-Chinese firm, lead arranger Bank of China said in a statement on Tuesday. Fortescue – the world’s... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3321546/chinas-push-promote-its-currency-accelerates-landmark-fortescue-loan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3321546/chinas-push-promote-its-currency-accelerates-landmark-fortescue-loan?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Aug 2025 07:00:08 +0000