The share of the yuan in global payments rose to a record high in March, remaining the world's fourth most active currency ahead of the Japanese yen, data from global payment services provider Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) revealed on Thursday.
According to SWIFT, the share of international trade using yuan settlements in March grew to 4.69 percent from 4 percent a month earlier, the highest level since SWIFT established a new reference system last July.
It mirrors a steady progress in the yuan's internationalization, the growing appeal of the yuan as a currency for global payments and settlements, and a bullish view on the long-term development momentum of China's economy with its vigorous business activities, analysts said.
The US dollar's share of global payments continues to exceed that of other currencies, remaining relatively stable in recent months at around 47 percent, SWIFT said.
The euro's share of international trade fell below 22 percent in March, down from 24.4 percent level when Swift introduced the new reference system.
The US dollar has maintained its dominance as the world's reserve currency since SWIFT started tracking payments, but the use of the Chinese yuan has risen steadily during the past decade.
When SWIFT began tracking the use of the yuan in 2010, the currency accounted for less than 0.1 percent of global settlements.
Since November, the yuan has become the fourth most active currency in the world, the first time since 2022 that it overtook the yen.
In 2023, yuan cross-border receipts and payments totaled 52.3 trillion yuan ($7.2 trillion), an increase of 24.2 percent year-on-year, according to a recent People's Bank of China (PBC) report on the yuan's internationalization.
As it relates to China's cross-border transactions for trade in goods, the proportion of yuan settlements surged to 25 percent in 2023, up 7 percentage points from the 2022 level, read the report.
The proportion in the first quarter of this year was nearly 30 percent, said Zhu Hexin, a deputy governor of the PBC, at a press conference on Thursday.
全球支付服务提供商环球银行金融电信协会（SWIFT）周四公布的数据显示，3月份人民币在全球支付中的份额升至历史新高，继续领先于日元，成为全球第四大活跃货币。据SWIFT统计，3月份使用人民币结算的国际贸易份额从一个月前的4%增长至4.69%，这是自去年7月SWIFT创建新参考系统以来的最高水平。分析人士表示，这反映出人民币国际化进程稳步推进，人民币作为全球支付结算货币的吸引力不断增强，以及对中国经济长期发展势头和商业活动蓬勃发展的看好。
SWIFT 表示，美元在全球支付中的份额继续远超其他货币，近几个月保持相对稳定，份额占比在 47% 左右。今年3 月，欧元在国际贸易中的份额降至 22% 以下，低于 Swift 引入新参考系统时的 24.4%。
自 SWIFT 开始追踪支付以来，美元一直保持其作为世界储备货币的主导地位，但人民币的使用量在过去十年中稳步上升。当 SWIFT 2010 年开始追踪人民币的使用情况时，人民币在全球结算中的占比还不到 0.1%。自去年11月以来，人民币已成为全球第四大活跃货币，这是自2022年以来首次超过日元。
中国人民银行 (PBC) 最近发布的人民币国际化报告显示，2023 年，人民币跨境收支总额为 52.3 万亿元人民币（7.2 万亿美元），同比增长 24.2%。报告称，在中国跨境货物贸易交易中，人民币结算比重将在2023年飙升至25%，比2022年提高7个百分点。中国人民银行副行长朱鹤新在周四的新闻发布会上表示，今年一季度这一比例接近30%。
