Denominating trade finance costs in renminbi could offer “immediate bottom-line impact” for corporates as their exposure to the currency accelerates, Standard Chartered has said.
While many businesses have “significant” renminbi exposure in their supply chains, it is yet to be reflected in corporate financing and treasury frameworks, the bank’s latest research on renminbi internationalisation found.
Because renminbi interest rates are “structurally below” US dollar rates, corporates could save up to 2% annually if they switch to renminbi for their trade finance, the lender said.
Standard Chartered’s survey of almost 300 corporates across several sectors showed that 23% of their collective revenue and 25% of their costs have renminbi exposure.
China now accounts for over 15% of global trade. According to Swift’s renminbi tracker, the currency was the fifth most used for global payments as of December 2025.
Offshore liquidity is also at record depth, Standard Chartered said, with Bloomberg reporting that renminbi-denominated bonds issued outside mainland China – known as ‘dim sum’ bonds – reached Rmb850bn at the end of 2025.
But just 14% of corporate debt is denominated in renminbi, which Standard Chartered said leaves a “persistent gap between operating exposure and financing currency”. In 2025, only 3.1% of global payments and 1.9% of global foreign exchange reserves were settled in the currency.
“This disconnect increasingly manifests as a structural imbalance: revenues and costs are often China-linked, while funding, liquidity and risk management remain concentrated in other currencies – introducing inefficiencies and growing strategic exposure over time,” the report said.
The renminbi is entering a new phase and treasuries should reframe it as a core currency, the lender said. Once currencies are embedded across trade, payments and capital markets, their “international role tends to persist even through geopolitical tension or policy realignment”.
Infrastructure constraints have also been addressed, the report said, as seen in the growth of the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System – China’s payments messaging scheme – with transaction volumes growing by around 43% year-on-year.
Karen Ng, head of China opening and renminbi internationalisation at Standard Chartered, said: “The question is no longer whether renminbi will play a larger role, but how deliberately corporates position their treasury and risk frameworks to engage with it.
“As market infrastructure deepens and liquidity expands, adoption is increasingly being driven by operational needs – including trade settlement and balance sheet alignment.”
Unsurprisingly, places such as Hong Kong and South Korea have seen the most advanced stages of renminbi integration.
In these areas, “renminbi can now be deployed at scale – not only to settle trade, but to fund operations, manage liquidity and integrate FX and interest-rate risk within treasury frameworks”, the report noted.
For the Asean nations in Southeast Asia, adoption has been supply chain-driven, while in the Middle East and parts of Africa, renminbi use is concentrated in energy and infrastructure trade corridors.
GTR recently reported on growing ties between Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Asia, including an uptick in renminbi use.
Latin America has seen renminbi adoption cluster around commodity corridors, the report said, with exporters receiving renminbi for sales to China and using the proceeds for imports of Chinese goods.
Brazil is the most advanced market in the region, while renminbi invoicing for Chinese imports into Argentina is growing rapidly.
In Europe, Standard Chartered noted that renminbi use is more strategic rather than wholesale, with particular focus on sustainable and transition finance.
