ASIATODAY.ID, BEIJING — In a bold push to challenge the U.S. dollar’s dominance, Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for the yuan to become a global reserve currency, asserting it is essential for China to emerge as a “financial powerhouse.”
In an article for the Communist Party’s journal Qiushi, Xi stressed that China needs “a strong currency, widely used in international trade and investment, and foreign exchange markets, with the status of a global reserve currency.”
He also insisted the yuan should be backed by a “powerful central bank.”
The yuan’s international use has surged since the 2022 Ukraine conflict, when sanctions on Russia prompted countries to trade in national currencies.
Yet, despite becoming the second most-used trade finance currency after the dollar, its share in global reserves remains minimal. According to IMF data, the yuan accounted for just 1.93% of global reserves in Q3 2025, compared to 57% for the dollar and 20% for the euro.
Last summer, Chinese Central Bank Governor Pan Gongsheng warned against excessive reliance on the U.S. dollar, noting that the global monetary system is shifting toward a structure in which several sovereign currencies coexist, compete, and balance each other.
Xi’s call comes amid rising doubts about the dollar. The German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) recently warned that the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency could be challenged as early as 2026 due to geopolitical shocks, funding shortages, and growing politicization.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index recently suffered its steepest drop since April 2025, even as former U.S. President Donald Trump dismissed concerns over the currency’s weakness.
Meanwhile, Moscow and Beijing have already moved nearly all bilateral trade to rubles and yuan, signaling a direct effort to reduce reliance on Western financial institutions.
Xi’s vision is clear: for China to claim its place at the top of the global financial hierarchy, the yuan must evolve from a regional player into a full-fledged global reserve currency—a direct challenge to the U.S.-led monetary order. (RT)
Follow Us at Google News and WA Channel