Things are not going to well for the yuan these days, especially in terms of internationalization and acceptance. After President Donald Trump offered his protectionist view in his presidential inauguration, officials in Mainland suggested that China is ready to fill in the gap for the United States but the currency suggests otherwise.

• 2016 was the worst year for the yuan against the dollar since its liberalization in 2005. It lost 6.6 percent against the dollar last year.
• The latest report released yesterday shows that the gigantic forex reserve in China dipped below $3 trillion, which is the lowest in five years. In January, the reserve declined by $12.3 billion to $2.998 trillion.
• According to calculations by Standard Chartered, the payments made in yuan for trade settlements accounted for only 11.5 percent of China’s total trade in last December, which is the lowest since 2013 and down from 28 percent, just a year ago.
• According to SWIFT data, in December yuan accounted for 1.68 percent of all transactions, which is more than 15 percent lower, compared to the previous year.
• In August 2015, yuan ranked fourth in the list of currencies used in global transactions but that rank slipped to sixth at the end of last year.

Despite China’s ambition and US President Donald Trump’s protectionist attitude, yuan remains far, far, away from replacing the dollar in the international stage.