China’s central bank governor has laid out an ambitious plan to reshape the global financial system, calling for a shift away from dollar dominance and urging wider international adoption of the digital yuan.
Speaking at the Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai on Wednesday, People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng said Beijing will establish an international operations centre for e-CNY in the city, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.
The move is aimed at supporting the digital yuan’s expansion overseas and deepening its role in global transactions.
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Alongside the digital yuan push, Pan said China would speed up plans to launch yuan futures trading in Shanghai. This, he explained, would give investors new tools to hedge against currency risk.
The broader goal, he explained, is to build a “multi-polar international monetary system.” In this system, multiple sovereign currencies would coexist. Moreover, they would provide mutual checks and balances.
He added that such a system could reduce reliance on the US dollar and foster greater regional currency leadership.
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Pan’s remarks come at a time when confidence in the dollar has been shaken by President Donald Trump’s unpredictable foreign and trade policies since returning to office.
The instability has led some investors to reduce their dollar holdings. It has also prompted US exporters to look for alternative settlement options, including the yuan.
In May, Trump reiterated his support for cryptocurrencies. He framed them as essential to maintaining US leadership in emerging technologies.
He said his support stems from a desire to stop China from gaining control over the future of finance, declaring, “I’m a big fan of crypto because I want to keep it away from China.”
China Seeks Global Digital Yuan Role as Pan Warns of Politicised Payment Systems
China has spent years trying to internationalise the yuan, part of President Xi Jinping’s broader effort to elevate China’s influence in global finance.
The digital yuan, already tested through domestic pilot programs, is central to that strategy. Pan said new technologies have revealed flaws in traditional cross-border payment systems. He described them as inefficient and increasingly exposed to geopolitical risk.
“Traditional cross-border payment infrastructures can be easily politicised and weaponised, and used as a tool for unilateral sanctions,” he warned, arguing that the current model undermines the global economic and financial order.
He also raised the idea of promoting special drawing rights, or SDRs, issued by the International Monetary Fund. He suggested they could serve as a “super-sovereign” alternative. However, he acknowledged that global consensus remains weak. Moreover, SDRs are mostly used during crises and are not a regular tool for international settlement.
“The situation where a single sovereign currency dominates cross-border payment is changing gradually,” Pan said, predicting a more competitive and balanced currency landscape in the years ahead.
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