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China Banking · Cross-Border Finance · Currency Diversification · Yuan Internationalization
China's major State-owned commercial banks, including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Bank of China, launched new cross-border renminbi solutions and committed 1 trillion yuan ($145.3 billion) in financing, signaling a strong push to internationalize the currency amid global diversification trends.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) introduced 10 major service systems, including cross-border trade settlement and wealth management, and established a 1 trillion yuan financing quota to connect Chinese and overseas markets, prioritizing new quality productive forces and digital trade. Liu Jun, president of ICBC, stated that eroding trust in a single-currency-dominated system makes a diversified international financial system an urgent priority, asserting the renminbi's internationalization has entered an important historical window.
Li Bin, deputy head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, reported that RMB settlements accounted for over half of China's total cross-border receipts and payments in 2025. Tao Ling, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, highlighted that cross-border RMB receipts and payments by Chinese commercial lenders reached 71 trillion yuan last year, a 10 percent year-on-year increase, with goods trade accounting for nearly one-third.
Bank of China's Shanghai branch expanded its cross-border yuan services for State-owned enterprises, while ICBC signed a memorandum with South Africa's Standard Bank to promote yuan adoption across Africa, making payments cheaper and simpler, according to Standard Bank Group CEO Sim Tshabalala.
