The Chinese yuan must become a global reserve currency, President Xi Jinping has said.
The yuan (renminbi) became the second most-used trade finance currency after the dollar following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, as sanctions targeting Moscow prompted many countries to begin trading with each other in national currencies. However, its role in official reserves remains limited.
Beijing must have “a strong currency, which is widely used in international trade and investment, and foreign exchange markets, and has the status of a global reserve currency,” Xi wrote in an article for the Communist Party’s journal, Qiushi, on Saturday.
The yuan should also be supported by a “powerful central bank,” the president insisted.
According to Xi, these changes are essential if China hopes to become a true “financial powerhouse,” as its current monetary system is “large, but not strong enough.”
Last summer, Chinese Central Bank Governor Pan Gongsheng warned against “excessive reliance” on the US dollar. He stressed the growing influence of the yuan, saying that “in the future, the global monetary system may continue to evolve towards a pattern, in which a few sovereign currencies coexist, compete with each other, and check and balance each other.”
The German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) warned last week that the US dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency could be challenged as early as 2026 amid funding shortages, geopolitical shocks and growing politicization.
The warning followed the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index posting its sharpest drop since last April, after US President Donald Trump announced sweeping global tariffs.
Trump earlier dismissed concerns over the US currency’s weakness, saying it is “doing great” and should be allowed to “seek its own level.”
According to IMF data, the dollar accounted for about 57% of global reserves in the third quarter of 2025, the euro for 20% and the yuan for 1.93%.
In November, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said 99.1% of trade between Moscow and Beijing had already shifted to rubles and yuan in order to reduce reliance on Western financial institutions.