Market News

(Bloomberg) — China is launching a sweeping campaign to promote the yuan’s global role, seizing what officials see as a rare strategic opening.

With the dollar (DX=F) facing multiple challenges, Beijing is accelerating its long-standing campaign to reduce global reliance on the world’s reserve currency. What sets the latest push apart is timing: Chinese policymakers see erratic US decision-making and geopolitical tensions as the most favorable backdrop in years to promote the yuan.

The latest measures aim to not just facilitate trade but also open China’s financial markets and embed the yuan more deeply in investment flows. They include easing capital controls, expanding cross-border payment systems, and launching new financial products to attract foreign investors. Beijing’s hope is that a more internationalized yuan may reshape trade and global finance and challenge the dollar’s dominance in reserve portfolios.

“The measures to further integrate China with the global financial system feel like steps in the right direction, as China wants to make sure that the yuan is in the conversation of important global currencies,” Lynn Song, chief Greater China economist at ING Bank NV, said.