China's yuan rises to fourth most active currency in global transactions

The Chinese yuan has emerged as the fourth most active currency for global payments, the country's central bank said on Tuesday.

Thanks to various measures taken by the central bank to facilitate cross-border use of Chinese yuan, cross-border yuan payments totaled about 64 trillion yuan (about 8.73 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2024, an increase of 23 percent year on year, Xuan Changneng, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, told a press conference.

Various indicators of the international use of Chinese yuan have steadily improved, with the ability of cross-border yuan business to serve the real economy continuously enhanced, showed data from the central bank.

Over 80 overseas central banks and monetary authorities have included Chinese yuan in their foreign exchange reserves.

The balance of Hong Kong's offshore Chinese yuan deposits exceeded one trillion yuan, while the offshore Chinese yuan loan balance approached 700 billion yuan, both at historically high levels.

The PBOC will continue strengthening Chinese yuan's coordination with foreign currencies and facilitating yuan-based cross-border financing to create a favorable environment for domestic and foreign entities to hold and use the Chinese currency.

"We will support Shanghai in its efforts to build a global Chinese yuan financial asset allocation center and risk management center, and support yuan-based trade, financing, overseas loans, and the issuance of Chinese yuan bonds. We will improve the supply mechanism of offshore Chinese yuan liquidity, support the sound development of the offshore Chinese yuan market, and consolidate and enhance Hong Kong's status as an international financial center and offshore Chinese yuan business hub. We will improve the infrastructure facilities for cross-border use of Chinese yuan, rationally set up new Chinese yuan clearing banks, and continuously enhance the functions and services of the Chinese yuan cross-border payment system," Xuan said.

China's yuan rises to fourth most active currency in global transactions

Colombia's Transport Minister Maria Fernanda Rojas on Friday said that flights between her country and Venezuela's capital city Caracas are being targeted by cyber attacks, forcing some Colombian carriers to temporarily suspend services to Venezuela.

"Deceptive signals are being emitted, cyber attacks are taking place, signals are being sent that are intended to deceive GPS positioning equipment," Rojas said in a post to social media platform X on the U.S. attempt to close the Venezuelan airspace, warning that "this has crossed all boundaries."

She called for statements from the International Civil Aviation Organization and other international bodies, declaring that technological sabotage of any civil aviation operation anywhere in the world constitutes a crime.

"We cannot allow this [to happen]. The international community cannot allow this today. Today it is Venezuela, tomorrow it could be Colombia or any other country in the world," the minister added.

Rojas said that flight operations between Colombia and Venezuela will continue.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Colombia said it had held meetings with the Colombian foreign ministry and the affected domestic airline companies to solve the issue as soon as possible.

On Wednesday and Thursday, multiple airline companies such as Panama's Copa Airlines, the Bolivian Aviation, and Colombia's low-budget Wingo all announced suspension of Caracas-bounded flights due to pilot reports on GPS signal disruptions.

The flight irregularities followed U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement a week ago, in which he threatened to close the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela "in its entirety," as his administration continued to ramp up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government. Trump's threat has been met with strong condemnation from Venezuela and other countries in the Latin America and Caribbean region.

Colombia says Caracas-bound flights threatened by cyber attacks