China's Push to Internationalize the RMB

A currency becomes “internationalized” when it is widely used beyond its home economy for trade, financial transactions, and as a store of value. Achieving that status can lower transaction costs and exchange rate risks, while also enhancing the issuing country’s geopolitical influence. Today, the global financial system remains overwhelmingly dollar-centric, with China’s renminbi playing a comparatively modest role. Yet over the past decade, Beijing has taken steps to expand its global use, expanding offshore renminbi markets, establishing bilateral swap lines, and developing alternative payment infrastructure.

To help us unpack where China’s renminbi internationalization efforts stand today, we are joined by Zongyuan Zoe Liu, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Zoe’s research centers on international political economy and global financial markets, with a focus on China and East Asia, as well as the Middle East. She is the author of Can BRICS De-dollarize the Global Financial System? and Sovereign Funds: How the Communist Party of China Finances Global Ambitions.

Timestamps:
[00:00] Introduction
[01:54] Strategic Motivations for Beijing
[04:55] Progress Report on RMB Internationalization
[08:16] Main Mechanisms Used to Promote the RMB
[11:08] RMB in the Belt and Road Initiative
[13:46] Using Clean Energy Supply Chains to Promote RMB in Key Commodities
[15:57] RMB as a Reserve Currency?
[21:23] Xi’s Fourth Term Goals with the RMB
[27:26] How Global Conflicts Impact RMB Internationalization