Analysts say many yuan transactions are now routed through China’s own global payment system CIPS, which often does not appear in traditional data sets. This could explain the gap between Beijing’s claim that the yuan is the world’s third-largest payment currency and figures from trackers like Swift.
People’s Bank of China governor Pan Gongsheng said at the Lujiazui Forum last year that the yuan had become the world’s third-largest payment currency. By contrast, Swift’s monthly data showed the yuan ranking between fourth and sixth globally in terms of payment share in 2025. The latest figures put its share at 2.74 per cent of global payments by value in February, placing it sixth.
The discrepancy arises because many yuan transactions are routed through China’s Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS), which often bypasses Western-dominated networks like Swift. “As alternative systems emerge, Swift will be less of an accurate mirror for international payments,” said Xu Tianchen, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit.
“Whether the yuan gains or loses share in Swift statistics is perhaps no longer relevant,” he added.
Analysts suggest this indicates the yuan may be going global faster than Western data sets capture, highlighting differences between official narratives and independent trackers.
