Yuan Settlements at China’s Canton Fair
as Exporters Hit 10-20% of Value, Dollar Loses Shine
At China’s Canton Fair, Exporters
Sense a Warming Trend in Yuan Settlements
Chinese traders report a rising number of
overseas clients opting to pay using the yuan, signalling a quiet shift away from
the US dollar
At the
autumn edition of China’s Canton Fair in Guangzhou, exporters report a steady
rise in overseas clients choosing to settle trade orders in yuan, particularly
from emerging markets across Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and Africa.
Companies such as diesel generator manufacturer Keypower
now see yuan settlements account for 10–20% of exports, up from single digits
last year, driven by infrastructure projects and growing regional demand.
The 2025
RMB Internationalisation Report by China Construction Bank highlights broader
trends: geopolitical uncertainties, rising tariffs, and US interest rate
volatility are prompting Global South economies to reduce dependence on the US
dollar, with its share in their foreign reserves falling to 58% last year—the
lowest in two decades.
Industry
players at the fair noted regional nuances. While yuan adoption is rising in
Africa, India, Russia, and parts of Asia, South American interest has waned
amid geopolitical tensions. Exporters emphasize that client preference remains
key, and widespread adoption of yuan settlements will require time and
supportive institutions.
China’s
efforts to promote the renminbi internationally are reflected in last year’s
cross-border yuan settlement value of 64.1 trillion yuan (US$8.99 trillion), a
22.5% year-on-year increase, including 12.4 trillion yuan (US$1.7 trillion) in
goods trade alone.
While
growth in yuan settlements is gradual, the trend indicates a quiet but steady
move toward diversifying beyond the US dollar in global trade.
At
the ongoing autumn edition of the Canton Fair in Guangzhou – China’s oldest and
largest trade exhibition – Chinese exporters are noticing a quietly spreading shift:
an increasing number of overseas clients, particularly from emerging markets such
as Southeast Asia, Central Asia and Africa, are proactively proposing to settle
trade orders in yuan.
Wang
Lilin, sales director at diesel generator manufacturer Keypower,
said the company had seen a clear rise in yuan settlements over the past two years.
“Customers
from several countries, such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Central Asian nations including
Kazakhstan, have requested that we use yuan for trade settlements,” she said. “We
also encourage new clients from these markets to consider using yuan.”
Wang
said that yuan-settled orders now account for between 10 and 20 per cent of the
company’s total exports, up from single digits last year.
“We’re
pleased to see this share growing year by year,” she added. In her view, the expansion
of yuan settlements is closely tied to broader industry momentum.
“Data
centre projects in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand are frequently built by Chinese
suppliers, driving both our load-bank products and yuan-settled orders overseas.
Additionally, developing countries still lack adequate power infrastructure, making
diesel-generator sets essential,” Wang said.
According
to the 2025 RMB Internationalisation Report, published by China Construction Bank
in September, geopolitical uncertainties, rising tariff barriers and the volatility
of the US interest rate cycle are motivating many emerging markets to gradually
reduce their reliance on the US dollar in international transactions, accelerating
the use of local and regional currencies for trade and investment settlements.
This
trend is particularly pronounced among Global South economies, the report said.
Countries in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia are increasingly
embracing the yuan as a settlement currency, it added.
Per
data from the International Monetary Fund cited in the report, the share of the
US dollar in the foreign reserves of Global South economies fell to 58 per cent
last year, down 7 percentage points from 2020 and the lowest proportion in two decades.
Wang
also noted that regional patterns remain shaped by the global environment. “We previously
observed some South American clients embracing yuan settlements, but that trend
has recently reversed – likely linked to geopolitical tensions between China and
the US,” she said.
Wang
Heng, international business manager at BeLead Sensor,
shared a similar perspective. He said demand from emerging markets had risen sharply
this year, particularly when it came to India and Russia.
“Russian
clients use [state-owned] VTB Bank for payments,” he said. “While we welcome more
yuan settlements, it ultimately depends on buyer preference – we won’t force it,
as smooth transactions come first.”
He
added that more buyers were shifting from sourcing in Europe and the US to purchasing
Chinese-made sensor products, with applications expanding into healthcare, petrochemicals
and robotics.
In
Africa, yuan settlements are also gaining ground, according to a sales representative
from a Jiangsu-based electric tricycle manufacturer who spoke to the Economic Observer
at the fair.
“Many
African clients now use the renminbi for settlement because local dollar reserves
are limited,” the source was quoted as saying. “If we had 10 clients last year,
we now have over 20 clients this year.”
China’s
push for greater use of the yuan in cross-border trade and finance has grown more
assertive in recent years.
Last
year, China’s total cross-border yuan settlement value was about 64.1 trillion yuan
(US$8.99 trillion), marking a year-on-year increase of 22.5 per cent, according
to Bank of China’s 2025 white paper on yuan internationalisation, published in June.
Among
the 64.1 trillion yuan, yuan settlements under the current
account amounted to 6.3 trillion yuan (US$8.8 billion) in 2024, up by 15.7 per cent
from the previous year. Within this category, settlements for goods trade reached
12.4 trillion yuan (US$1.7 trillion), reflecting a 15.9 per cent year-on-year increase.
Of
course, some Chinese exporters at the Canton Fair, which opened on Wednesday, said
the yuan-settlement trend was expanding “gradually” and “cautiously”, and that wider
adoption of the yuan in settlements would still require time and institutional support.
“It
still depends on customer preference,” said Kevin Huang, a home appliance exhibitor.
“Most foreign buyers remain conservative about new settlement methods, so we can
only use currencies they’re comfortable with.”