Renminbi becoming anchor currency in commodity trading, investments: market watchers

CHINA’S renminbi is gaining ground as a settlement currency for select commodities, a trend which some market watchers say puts it on track to becoming an anchor currency in commodities trading on the back of growing demand as well as geopolitical tensions.

Cross-border payments in yuan rose between 2017 and 2022. These settlements made up 18 per cent of China’s total value of goods traded in 2022, said a report by the People’s Bank of China in February.

In March, Chinese national oil company China National Offshore Oil Corp and France completed China’s first yuan-settled trade in liquefied natural gas (LNG) through the Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange.