SWIFT’s latest RMB Tracker, released in November and reflecting transaction data from October 2025, points to a softening in the Chinese currency’s international momentum. The renminbi (RMB) slipped one position back to sixth on the list of most active currencies for global payments by value, capturing a 2.47% share. That shift coincides with a sharp 22% month-on-month fall in RMB-denominated payments, at a time when overall global payments increased marginally by 0.03%.

The RMB continues to be an established part of global financial flows, but its internationalisation efforts are uneven. According to the Tracker, offshore use of the yuan is still anchored overwhelmingly in Hong Kong, which accounted for 74.72% of all offshore RMB payments by value in October 2025, measured across both inbound and outbound flows. Hong Kong’s role dwarfs other offshore locations, with the second and third ranked United Kingdom (4.43%) and Singapore (1.82%) both trailing at a healthy distance, a trend that has remained relatively consistent over the past half-decade. 

On the trade finance side, the Renminbi represented 8.48% of global trade finance transaction value in October, making it the second most popular currency, behind only the USD, which dominated the market with nearly 80% of transactions by value.