China's central bank chief said on Wednesday that the dominance of a single currency in cross-border payment is fading as the global monetary system moves toward greater multipolarity.
Addressing the opening ceremony of the two-day 2025 Lujiazui Forum which opened in Shanghai on Wednesday, Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), noted that the general trend toward a multipolar currency framework can help reinforce global economic and financial stability.
Pan said that the move encourages stronger policy discipline among sovereign currency issuers and enhances the resilience of the international monetary system.
He also predicted a future where several dominant sovereign currencies coexist, competing and balancing each other.
"Since the global financial crisis of 2008, the international standing of the Chinese yuan has steadily improved. The yuan has become the world's second-largest currency for trade financing, and the third-largest for overall payments if calculated on a full scale. It ranks the third in terms of the weight in the IMF Special Drawing Right (SDR) basket," Pan said.
The Chinese central bank chief emphasized that an increasing number of countries and regions are shifting to local currency settlements, fostering the use of more currencies in international payment and easing the dominance of any single sovereign currency.
"The channels for accounts settlement in the Chinese yuan are more diversified, and the yuan's cross-border payment efficiency has significantly improved. After more than 10 years of construction and development, China has built a broad-based, multi-channel Chinese yuan clearing network for cross-border payment. In particular, QR code interoperability across countries and regions in Asia has sharply enhanced the interoperability of retail cross-border payment, greatly facilitating across-border transactions for residents," Pan said.
The Lujiazui Forum was created in 2008 as a high-level global platform for government officials, world financial leaders and outstanding scholars to discuss and foster international financial cooperation and further the financial reform and market opening in China. Named after Lujiazui -- the financial district of China's financial hub Shanghai, the forum also symbolizes Shanghai's vision of becoming a leading international financial center.
With the theme of "Financial opening up and cooperation for high-quality development in a changing global economy," the two-day 2025 Forum opened in Shanghai on Wednesday morning, gathering more than 70 policymakers, regulators, and financial leaders from over 10 countries and regions.
Global payment system shifts toward currency multipolarity: central bank chief
