The Chinese yuan is losing its position as an international currency. Enterprises have started to refuse using the yuan in their settlements, blaming China’s government for tight currency control. The yuan was officially allowed to be used outside China only 7 years ago. This triggered talks that the yuan could throw out a challenge to the US dollar and occupy the top place in global trade. Even opponents of this theory agreed that the yuan’s strengthening influence would remain during a long period. However, bureaucracy at local levels and the government’s actions in the forex market remarkably dented the yuan’s appeal for foreign investors. “I have no patience to sort out all the documents which are required by our regulators, and Brazilians don’t understand what to do with the Chinese currency in San Paulo,” businessman Howard Van complains. In 2015 the yuan’s usage in international trade shrank by 0.2 percent, Standard Chartered reported. In this January the figure declined by 21% compared with last October. “With the yuan’s volatility and unclear intentions of China’s authorities, it’s hard to say what guide our clients using the yuan,” the finance director of Ningbo United Group Import & Export Co. comments on the situation. Experts foresee a massive slump in the yuan’s demand. Presently according to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT), the yuan’s share in global payments is approximately 3 percent, while the US dollar has a 45 percent share in international settlements.
