Petro-yuan

In the first physical settlement of the Chinese yuan-denominated oil futures contract, five companies will deliver a total of 600,000 barrels of Middle Eastern crude grades to buyers of the September futures contract.

China is ramping up efforts to promote yuan as a global currency. After the crackdown on outflows and devaluation in 2015, the renminbi is once again gaining momentum.

Yuan-backed oil futures can shatter the US dollar dominance on the crude market, according to experts polled by RT. However, the greenback will not give up the top spot easily.

In its efforts to make its currency more international and break the US dollar’s global dominance, China is in the early stages of preparing to paying for oil imports in yuan, sources told Reuters.

The historic launch of the long-awaited trading of Chinese crude futures this week has stirred up a heated debate among analysts as to whether the new commodity product will prosper or flop.

China is the world's biggest crude consumer and buys most of its oil from Russia. However, most settlements are still in US dollars. The launch of the petro-yuan now allows Moscow and Beijing to use national currencies instead.