This year¡¯s near-doubling of the yuan¡¯s share as a global payments currency has largely gone unremarked because the figures are still rather modest and forecasts of the dollar¡¯s impending demise have so far turned out to be greatly exaggerated.
Besides, the world¡¯s attention is fixated on China¡¯s wobbly domestic growth. The yuan as a vehicle for the nation¡¯s geopolitical ambitions is getting sidelined, much like the tapering enthusiasm for President Xi Jinping¡¯s $1 trillion Belt and Road project.
Yet, ignoring the yuan¡¯s rise might be a mistake. Going by the experience of treasurers at multinational firms, Beijing¡¯s two-decade-old project to put its own legal tender in the race for preeminence ¡ª and the exorbitant privilege that comes with it ¡ª seems to have got some momentum.
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