Yuan Surpasses U.S. Dollar to Become the Most-used Currency in China’s Cross-border Transactions

Comments by Brian Shilhavy
Editor, Health Impact News

The news regarding the U.S. dollar’s status as the world’s #1 currency continues to be negative, as it was just reported today that the yuan surpassed the U.S. dollar to become the most-used currency in China’s cross-border transactions last month.

The yuan has become the most widely used currency in Beijing’s international settlements, figures have shown.

The yuan surpassed the US dollar to become the most-used currency in China’s cross-border transactions last month, Reuters reported on Wednesday citing official data.

Cross-border payments and receipts in yuan surged from $434.5 billion in February to a record $549.9 billion in March, according to calculations by the outlet, based on data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

The Chinese currency was used in 48.4% of all cross-border transactions, reflecting a trend of shifting away from the dollar, as well as Beijing’s efforts to promote the use of the yuan. The share of the greenback in China’s international settlements dropped from 48.6% in February to 46.7% last month. (Full article.)

This follows another report from last week that Russia is completely abandoning the U.S. dollar and Euro from energy exports.

Russia completely abandons dollar, euro in energy trade – deputy PM

Russia is switching to national currencies in energy trade with foreign partners, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Saturday in an interview with the Russia-1 TV channel.

According to the official, most transactions are already made in these currencies, mostly in Chinese yuan and Russian rubles, and in the future Moscow intends to abandon the euro and dollar in energy exports altogether.

“The trends have changed greatly toward reducing the use of dollars and euros. Considering the current problems with these currencies, in our settlements we are switching almost exclusively to national currencies,” he said, referring to economic restrictions placed on Russia by Western states due to the Ukraine conflict, which have effectively made it impossible for Russia to conduct transactions in euros and dollars.

“Our partners in China are already paying for gas in yuan, as well as partly for oil. They also pay in rubles. We will continue to improve these mutual settlements in national currencies,” Novak pledged. (Source.)

China and Russia are not the only countries that are abandoning the U.S. dollar.

It’s A “Defund-The-Global-Police” Moment, Jen Says De-Dollarization Is Happening At A “Stunning” Pace

Over the last few weeks, it has seemed you can’t turn a page, blink at a pixel, or hear a news report without some form of de-dollarization headline shrieking at you. From Brazil to Saudi Arabia, and from India to Argentina, and increasing number of nations are ‘reportedly’ shifting away from the dollar hegemon.

Some recent headlines:

“No Reason” For Malaysia To Rely On US Dollar, PM Warns As Yuan Influence Grows

De-Dollarization Just Got Real

Here Are 7 Signs That Global De-Dollarization Has Just Shifted Into Overdrive

De-Dollarization Has Begun

But below the surface, the dollar’s fecal matter is striking rotating objects at an increasing pace and Stephen Jen – infamous for his coining of the ‘dollar smile’ while at Morgan Stanley which posits that the US Dollar tends to do well when the economy is soaring or slumping – recently quantified just how rapidly the de-dollarization is ocurring.

Jen, who now runs money at Eurizon SLJ, warned in a recent briefing note, that the dollar is losing its reserve status at a faster pace than generally accepted, as many analysts have failed to account for last year’s frantic swings in exchange rates. (Full article.)