Bank of China: Using financial strength to promote the international use of the Renminbi to a new level

The 2026 Government Work Report proposes further expanding high-level opening to the outside world. Increase credit and credit-insurance support, and expand the cross-border use of the renminbi. In this process, financial support is indispensable.

As one of the leading Chinese banks in terms of globalization and comprehensive capabilities, Bank of China has always had its heart on “the great affairs of the country.” It will make promoting the international use of the renminbi its primary mission to support the building of a strong financial system. Relying on its institution-wide network spanning the globe, industry-leading service capabilities, and outstanding product innovation strength, it will help the renminbi accelerate from a “Chinese currency” toward a “world currency.”

On March 30, 2026, at Bank of China’s 2025 annual performance briefing, Zhang Hui, President of Bank of China, said that Bank of China has strongly supported the international use of the renminbi. Its London branch and Colombo branch were successively granted qualifications as renminbi clearing banks, bringing the total number of clearing banks to 18. Cross-border RMB corporate loans have continued to grow, and businesses such as cross-border RMB clearing and settlement, panda bonds, and offshore RMB bonds have remained market-leading. The amount of transactions in various multilateral central bank digital currency bridge businesses exceeded 350 billion yuan, and for three consecutive years, Bank of China has served as a main participating bank, enabling efficient cross-border fund circulation.

Laying the Foundation for a Global Network, Making the “Main Artery” of Renminbi Fund Circulation Unblocked

In recent years, the renminbi has become China’s largest settlement currency and the world’s second-largest trade finance currency, with the international use of the renminbi advancing steadily.

“The renminbi’s value is stable and its credit is reliable, and more and more countries and market entities are choosing to use the renminbi.” Yang Jun, Vice President of Bank of China, said at the bank’s 2025 annual performance briefing. Based on a full-scope calculation, the renminbi is the world’s third-largest payment currency. More than 80 countries and regions already have central banks and monetary authorities that have chosen the renminbi as reserves, making the renminbi a new safe and reliable choice.

As the main channel bank for renminbi cross-border services, Bank of China has always been doing one thing: making the infrastructure for cross-border renminbi more solid and more tightly knit. Right at the start of 2026, this network has seen new milestones one after another: in February, the People’s Bank of China authorized Bank of China’s London branch to serve as the UK renminbi clearing bank; in March, it authorized the Colombo branch to serve as the Sri Lanka renminbi clearing bank.

What’s more, Bank of China helps expand CIPS’s “circle of friends.” Bank of China assisted the Guinea subsidiary of a West African commercial bank to officially connect to the cross-border renminbi payment system (CIPS), achieving CIPS system’s first country coverage in Guinea. In addition, Bank of China assisted the Nordic Sea/SA? Bank in Sweden to connect to the CIPS system, achieving the first overseas connection by a Swedish financial institution to the CIPS system. These two breakthroughs significantly improve the facilitation level of renminbi in scenarios such as trade settlement, cross-border remittances, and investment and financing, injecting strong momentum into deepening China-Guinea and China-Sweden bilateral economic and trade ties.

A set of solid data bears witness to the depth and breadth of this global network: Bank of China’s overseas institutions cover 64 countries and regions, and it provides renminbi business in 58 countries and regions. Eighteen institutions serve as renminbi clearing banks, and high-quality clearing services have been fully recognized by the market. There are 46 CIPS direct participants and more than 760 inter-participant service banks. Bank of China opened more than 1,600 renminbi clearing accounts for overseas participating banks, and cross-border renminbi clearing volumes have grown rapidly. It supports more than 200 overseas institutional investors to enter China’s capital market via channels such as CIBM and QFII.

Leveraging Professional Strength to Support More Market Entities in Issuing Renminbi Bonds

Enhancing the international reserve and investment functions of the renminbi is a key indicator for building a strong financial sector. In addition to helping strengthen the cross-border renminbi infrastructure, Bank of China, with its outstanding professional capabilities and global service level, has continued to lead in businesses such as panda bonds and offshore renminbi bonds.

In recent years, the panda bond market has expanded steadily in scale, with the framework continuously optimized and improved, and the number of high-quality overseas issuers has kept rising. The appeal to investors at home and abroad has increased steadily, and it has played an important role in supporting high-quality co-building of the Belt and Road, green development, and industrial upgrading. In 2025, Bank of China helped more than 30 overseas entities issue panda bonds, with an underwriting scale of nearly 38 billion yuan, ranking first among panda bond underwriters for twelve consecutive years. Among them, it helped Hungary issue 5 billion yuan of panda bonds, setting the largest issuance size ever for sovereign institutions.

On March 30, the day of its performance briefing, Bank of China, as lead underwriter and lead bookrunner, successfully assisted the Republic of Slovenia in issuing 4 billion yuan of three-year panda bonds in the China interbank market. This was Slovenia’s first appearance in the panda bond market, and it also set the record for the largest initial issuance amount of sovereign panda bonds.

The landing of this sovereign panda bond realized a new breakthrough in sovereign renminbi financing for institutions in Central and Eastern Europe, helping to expand and improve the quality of the panda bond market, attract more international issuers to participate in routine onshore financing, and once again demonstrate Bank of China’s absolute leading position in the panda bond market, as well as global sovereign issuers’ high recognition of Bank of China’s bond distribution and underwriting/placement capabilities. It is understood that since 2016, as lead underwriter, Bank of China has assisted in the issuance of all 17 sovereign panda bonds for Canada’s British Columbia province, Poland, the Emirate of Sharjah, the Philippines, Portugal, Egypt, Hungary, and Slovenia.

At the same time, Bank of China has always been a firm leader in the offshore renminbi bond market. In 2025, Bank of China helped more than 80 issuance entities issue offshore renminbi bonds, with an underwriting scale of over 110 billion yuan, ranking first among offshore bond underwriters for three consecutive years. It took the lead in assisting the Ministry of Finance in issuing the first green sovereign bond of 6 billion yuan, supporting local governments such as Guangdong, Shenzhen, and Hainan, as well as Chinese enterprises such as State Grid, Baidu, and Tencent, in issuing offshore renminbi bonds.

Deepening Scenario Applications to Build a “New Ecosystem” for International Use of the Renminbi

Whether the renminbi can be used more deeply and more widely internationally depends on whether there are rich application scenarios. In recent years, Bank of China has fully leveraged its traditional advantages in cross-border business to make the renminbi usable and convenient in more scenarios.

In today’s era of rapid development of digital finance, Bank of China has taken the initiative to embrace the wave of digital currency development, and has worked to build a convenient and efficient new experience for cross-border payments. In January 2026, Bank of China successfully completed a test for overseas top-ups of the digital renminbi in Singapore. Singapore residents can conveniently register digital renminbi wallets, enabling “no-sense payments” for consumption in China, and driving the continuous expansion of cross-border application scenarios for the digital renminbi.

In addition, Bank of China actively promotes to the market and clients the scenarios and advantages for international use of the renminbi. Leveraging its advantages in global network deployment, it has held renminbi internationalization forums multiple times in places such as Shanghai and Hong Kong. In 2025, it conducted 19 high-standard renminbi roadshow activities overseas, covering major regions including Asia-Pacific, Europe, Africa, and Latin America, and serving the offshore renminbi market development in Hong Kong, London, Singapore, Frankfurt, and other places. For thirteen consecutive years, it has released the “White Paper on Renminbi Internationalization” and cross-border renminbi index as well as offshore renminbi index, striving to become the preferred bank for international use of the renminbi.

Data is the most powerful proof. In 2025, Bank of China’s domestic branches handled cross-border renminbi settlement volume of about 1.8 trillion yuan, accounting for more than 25% of the total market. For cargo trade, the cross-border renminbi settlement share exceeded 30%. Service coverage for leading cross-border e-commerce customers was over 80%, with renminbi settlement volume exceeding 100 billion yuan, accounting for more than 90%. It successfully implemented cross-border QR code payment projects for China-Malaysia, China-Cambodia, and China-Indonesia, improving the convenience of using renminbi for everyday cross-border consumption. In 2025, currency bridge transaction volume was 350 billion yuan, and its market share exceeded 85%.

From arranging global clearing nodes to fully connecting renminbi application scenarios across the board, from exploring regional pilot programs to building a global financial ecosystem, Bank of China is painting a vivid picture of the international use of the renminbi through solid financial actions.

Looking ahead, Bank of China will further highlight its advantages in globalization, continuously improve its product and service capabilities for cross-border renminbi, and keep improving foundational conditions. It will serve well both Chinese-funded enterprises going global and foreign-funded enterprises coming to China, act as the main channel for cross-border business, the main force in offshore market development, and the leading player in business innovation, and better serve the new development pattern and high-quality development.

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