People’s Bank of China (PBOC) Governor Pan Gongsheng estimated the yuan’s share of international payments by value at 6% to 7% on Oct. 19, placing it third worldwide under a broader measure.
At the 2026 Financial Street Forum, Pan said the estimate covers cross-border and offshore yuan payments, including amounts settled within banks or through the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS). He compared it with an approximately 3% to 4% share and fifth place in Swift-based data.
Swift’s September Global Currency Tracker put the yuan fifth in global payments by value in August, with a 3.26% share. Its separate measure for international payments outside the eurozone ranked the currency sixth at 2.38%.
Swift measures payment messages sent over its network by value, while Pan’s estimate includes CIPS and bank-internal settlement. The figures describe different sets of activity and do not show a change in rank for the same pool of payments.
Pan dated the start of the yuan’s internationalization to 2009 and said rising use abroad has increased demand for offshore liquidity management. He described the yuan as China’s most-used currency for cross-border settlement and the second-ranked currency in global trade finance.
The central bank plans to examine multilevel custody arrangements for overseas investors in China’s bond market and promote the use of yuan bonds as collateral internationally. Pan also outlined multilevel liquidity support for offshore users. His proposed market structure places Hong Kong at its center, alongside London, Singapore and Dubai.
A proposed pilot for offshore yuan clearing banks would allow eight Chinese and foreign banks to trade for their own accounts in China’s interbank foreign exchange market. Pan presented it as an initial step toward linking the onshore and offshore markets, with any wider access dependent on the pilot’s results.
