Opinion: Internationalizing the Yuan Is Not Easy, but China Is Pulling Out All the Stops

There are favorable conditions for the redback’s internationalization, with more than 1,900 foreign financial institutions using the currency for settlements with the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.

Internationalization of a currency is a long-term process that cannot be achieved overnight. China’s yuan began its move onto the world stage after the 2008 financial crisis, and with years of efforts, its international status has risen significantly.

One of the landmark events was the yuan’s admission into the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) special drawing rights (SDR) currency basket on Oct. 1, 2016. In the fourth quarter that year, the IMF for the first time included the currency in its official foreign exchange reserves database.