The Chinese yuan is now the world’s fifth most traded currency, according to the Bank for International Settlements’ Triennial Central Bank Survey.
In the three years since the last survey, the yuan surpassed the Australian, Canadian and Swiss currencies. This year, the yuan was involved in 7% of all trades, with overall daily trades climbing 14% to $7.5 trillion this year, according to the survey.
Meanwhile, the US dollar maintained the top spot among global currencies and was involved in 88% of all transactions — a share that has changed little over the past decade. The euro, pound and yen also held their positions in the next three spots.
The yuan has extended its reach as China takes steps to further open financial markets in the country, while the currency is also increasing its presence in global foreign reserves elsewhere.
And this year, the yuan has gained more appeal as an alternative to the dollar and euro after Western nations froze Russia’s currency reserves for its war on Ukraine.
Moscow has since made sold more of its commodities in yuan instead of the dollar, which is the dominant currency for settling such deals.
But the value of the yuan has tumbled about 13% against the dollar this year as the Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hikes have made yuan-denominated assets less attractive.
China saw its onshore bond market lose 70.7 billion yuan, or about $9.7 billion, in September as global investors shed Chinese debt for the eight consecutive month, marking the longest slump on record.
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