China’s drive to widen global use of the renminbi has been boosted by the Iran war, with adoption of Beijing’s cross-border payment system surging since the conflict erupted.
The average daily value of transactions settled through China’s cross-border interbank payment system (Cips) hit a record of Rmb920.5bn ($135.7bn) in March, according to state media. It briefly rose even higher at the start of April to as much as Rmb1.22tn with almost 42,000 transactions in a single day before transaction volumes fell back.
The surge in the use of Cips, which Beijing introduced in 2015 to offer clearing and settlement of cross-border transactions in renminbi as an alternative to western-based payment systems, has prompted speculation that the Chinese currency is increasing its share of the global oil trade.