RMB internationalisation is moving beyond settlement

The next phase may be shaped by how deeply RMB becomes embedded into cross-border treasury, funding and operating ecosystems.

22 June 2026

6 mins

Corporate & investment bankingTransaction bankingTreasury

As the global financial system becomes more multi-currency in nature, Renminbi internationalisation is entering a new phase of development.

For much of the past decade, the focus of RMB internationalisation centred around expanding trade settlement volumes, policy liberalisation and offshore RMB adoption. Today, however, RMB internationalisation is extending beyond settlement into broader treasury, funding and commercial frameworks.

This shift is being shaped by two converging forces:

1. Externally, growing geopolitical fragmentation and concerns around concentrated exposure to single-currency systems are reshaping how corporates, investors and financial institutions think about liquidity, treasury and reserve management.
2. Internally, China’s expanding global commercial footprint is creating more natural RMB demand across cross-border trade, investment and commercial ecosystems. As Chinese companies increasingly shift from exporting products to building production capacity overseas, RMB usage is becoming more deeply embedded in real commercial activity.

Together, these dynamics are creating a structurally different phase of RMB internationalisation – one driven not only by transaction growth, but by how deeply RMB becomes integrated into real-economy activity.

These themes align closely with broader trends explored in our latest report, RMB in motion for corporates, which examines how cross-border treasury, trade and funding ecosystems are evolving alongside the internationalisation of RMB. They also build on previous insights into how financial institutions are reassessing liquidity, treasury and funding frameworks in a more multi-currency global environment.

RMB internationalisation is reaching a new inflection point

Periods of geopolitical volatility – including trade tensions and conflicts in the Middle East – have reinforced the importance of diversification and resilience across cross-border financial systems.

Against this backdrop, RMB has demonstrated characteristics that support its role within a more multi-currency global environment. Since 2020, the US Dollar Index has risen by approximately 1.9 per cent, while over the same period, the CFETS RMB Index increased by approximately 7.2 per cent, reflecting broader RMB resilience across a basket of currencies.

At the same time, China’s expanding global economic footprint is creating deeper commercial foundations for RMB usage.

The acceleration of RMB internationalisation is being supported both by the evolution of the global monetary system and by the growing real-economy demand created as Chinese corporates expand globally.

Jean Lu

CEO, Standard Chartered China

Historically, RMB internationalisation was driven primarily through trade settlement activity. Today, however, RMB usage is also being reinforced through the global expansion of Chinese supply chains, manufacturing capacity and cross-border operating activity.

This marks an important shift. RMB usage is becoming embedded not only into payment flows, but also into procurement, financing, treasury and liquidity management activity across international markets.

The global expansion of value chains is deepening RMB integration

One of the biggest shifts shaping RMB internationalisation is the evolution of Chinese corporates from “product export” toward “chain export”.

As Chinese corporates build manufacturing capacity overseas and integrate into local supply chains, RMB usage is becoming more deeply connected to broader operating activity across cross-border ecosystems.

This includes procurement, supply chain financing, capital expenditure and treasury activity linked to global Chinese value chains.

When corporates bring RMB balance sheets overseas, RMB demand becomes more firmly rooted in real economic activity.

Jean Lu

CEO, Standard Chartered China

This shift is important because it reinforces RMB usage through operational demand rather than settlement preference alone.

It also reflects broader changes in cross-border treasury and funding strategies. As highlighted in RMB in motion for corporates, corporates are reassessing how multi-currency treasury and funding models can support funding diversification, operating resilience and closer alignment between RMB revenues and RMB costs.

This is creating new considerations not only for corporates, but also for financial institutions supporting cross-border liquidity, treasury and financing needs linked to Chinese companies’ global expansion.

Supporting this shift requires banks that can connect clients across onshore and offshore RMB ecosystems. Standard Chartered currently provides RMB products and services across 35 markets globally, including cross-border settlement, RMB financing, treasury solutions, capital accounts and supports international trade and investment corridors.

The next phase of RMB internationalisation will depend on ecosystem depth

As RMB becomes more integrated into cross-border operating and funding activity, the strength of the supporting ecosystem becomes more important.

In many respects, the next phase of RMB internationalisation may be determined not simply by how widely RMB is used, but by whether RMB ecosystems can support institutional-scale liquidity, funding and investment activity.

This depends on four interconnected pillars:

1. liquidity pools
2. international commercial networks
3. financial instruments and risk management tools
4. infrastructure connectivity.

Over the past decade, RMB internationalisation progressively expanded across current account activity. However, the next phase may depend more heavily on the depth and usability of capital market, funding and risk management ecosystems.

Hong Kong continues to play a central role in offshore RMB liquidity development, processing approximately 75 per cent of global offshore RMB payments while remaining home to the world’s largest offshore RMB liquidity pool. By the end of 2025, RMB deposits in Hong Kong had reached approximately RMB1.1 trillion, while Hong Kong’s RMB real-time gross settlement system recorded average daily turnover of approximately RMB2.5 trillion.

At the same time, offshore RMB liquidity arrangements continue to evolve, including expansion of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s RMB Business Facility from RMB100 billion to RMB200 billion. These developments support treasury activity, liquidity mobilisation and broader funding resilience across offshore RMB markets. Recent developments across offshore liquidity arrangements, bond market access and RMB risk management tools were also explored in our Q2 2026 Renminbi market updates.

Financial market participation is also continuing to deepen. By the end of Q1 2026, more than 1,194 overseas institutional investors from over 80 countries and regions were holding Chinese bonds, reflecting growing international participation across RMB fixed income ecosystems.

At the capital markets level, continued development of Panda bonds, Dim Sum bonds and offshore RMB derivatives is strengthening broader RMB funding and risk management capabilities. As RMB markets deepen, institutional participants are focused not only on RMB allocation opportunities, but also on how RMB assets can support broader liquidity, collateral and funding frameworks. 

These developments also reinforce themes explored in “The multi-currency imperative: RMB strategy for FIs“, including how liquidity mobility, treasury flexibility and broader funding optionality are becoming more important across multi-currency financial ecosystems.

Infrastructure connectivity is becoming equally important. China’s Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS), which now reaches participants across more than 100 countries and regions, continues to strengthen RMB cross-border payment connectivity and interoperability across offshore and onshore ecosystems.

RMB internationalisation is becoming a story about operating integration

RMB internationalisation is evolving from a focus on transaction scale toward deeper integration across treasury, funding and operating ecosystems.

As cross-border financial systems become more interconnected and multi-currency in nature, the next phase of RMB internationalisation may be shaped not only by broader RMB adoption, but by how effectively RMB ecosystems can support liquidity mobility, funding flexibility and cross-border operating activity at scale.

For corporates and financial institutions alike, RMB internationalisation is becoming a story not just about settlement, but about how deeply RMB becomes embedded into the broader architecture of global commercial and financial systems.