Chinese Yuan: Global usage trends higher in 2026 – Standard Chartered

Standard Chartered’s Tommy Wu reports that the bank’s revamped Renminbi Globalisation Index shows higher global RMB usage in February–April 2026 versus late 2025. The index, rebased to January 2015, rose to 224.8 in April from 212.1 in January, indicating usage has more than doubled over roughly a decade. Policy support and geopolitical factors are key drivers, with Hong Kong central to RMB internationalisation efforts.

Index revamp highlights rising RMB usage

"We have revamped the Standard Chartered Renminbi Globalisation Index (RGI), our proprietary measure of international Renminbi (RMB) usage, to better capture the relative importance and representativeness of its index components. We rebase the index to January 2015 (100); use a broader measure of cross-border payments; and change the weighting method for the index components."

"The revised RGI model shows increased RMB usage in February-April compared to the previous three months. The index picked up to 224.8 in April from 212.1 in January, which also indicates that RMB usage has more than doubled versus a decade or so ago."

"The recent RGI rise partly reflects increased global RMB usage for settlements due to the Middle East conflict, and partly initiatives by mainland China and Hong Kong to promote RMB internationalisation."

"China’s recent actions to curb unauthorised capital outflows are unlikely to affect its RMB internationalisation ambitions, as outlined in the 15th Five-Year Plan (FYP); rather, we expect the mainland and Hong Kong authorities to increase the range of RMB assets for investment, and continue to actively promote global RMB usage."

"Additionally, an increase in Dim Sum bond issuance and a broadening of the China and overseas issuer bases have supported offshore RMB bond market momentum."

(This article was created with the help of an Artificial Intelligence tool and reviewed by an editor.)