A landscape design of the Annual Conference of Financial Street Forum 2026 in Beijing, October 19, 2026 Photo: VCG

Chinese and foreign officials and experts engaged in intensive discussions on the international use of the yuan at the ongoing Annual Conference of the Financial Street Forum (FSF) 2026 in Beijing on Wednesday, saying that the continuous progress in the yuan's internationalization will facilitate global trade and inject certainty into the world economy.

"In recent years, China has steadfastly advanced financial reform and opening-up, playing a constructive role in global financial governance. The yuan has become the largest settlement currency for China's external receipts and payments, the world's second-largest trade finance currency, and the third-largest payment currency. Its weight in the IMF's Special Drawing Rights currency basket ranks third globally," You Jun, vice chairperson of the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, said in a speech at a sub-forum of the FSF.

Looking at the current development landscape, the international use of the yuan is accelerating its shift from quantitative change to qualitative transformation, Zhang Hui, president of Bank of China, said in a speech.

Cross-border yuan settlement is moving from "available" to "routinely used," cross-border yuan investment and financing are evolving from "usable" to "user-friendly," and the cross-border payment network is transitioning from "connected" to "seamlessly accessible," according to Zhang.

"Yuan business is an important part of the wider UK-China financial relationship," British Ambassador to China Peter Wilson said in his speech.

He said that London - the leading offshore yuan center outside Asia - will continue to give play to its own advantages and support the development of the offshore yuan market. "This year, the Bank of China has become the UK's second yuan-clearing bank. This is a really important milestone, which strengthens London's yuan infrastructure even further and gives businesses more choice in clearing and settlement," Wilson said.

"China has been Indonesia's largest trading partner for more than a decade… The economic relationship is already very strong, and naturally this creates opportunities for businesses to use the Indonesian rupiah or yuan directly without using a third currency," Yulian Wihantoro, chief representative of Bank Indonesia in Beijing, said at the sub-forum

"It is about making business more efficient and competitive. This is where the cooperation between Bank Indonesia and the People's Bank of China becomes very important. Our two central banks work very closely to develop a framework infrastructure for local currency transactions," Wihantoro said.

"The yuan's internationalization has a stable and trustworthy foundation, which is what the development of the world economy and finance needs. Accelerating the yuan's internationalization is of profound significance for stabilizing the global economy," Xi Junyang, a professor at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Xi Junyang said that expanding trade between China and its trading partners was strengthening incentives to settle transactions in yuan. Amid rising geopolitical risks, some countries are seeking to diversify their currency use to mitigate financial risks. Settling directly in yuan can reduce transaction costs by eliminating the need for intermediate currency conversions and limit exposure to exchange-rate fluctuations associated with those conversions, the professor said.