China, the Global South, and the transnationalisation strategy of the renminbi

China is steadily building financial infrastructures to promote the renminbi’s transnationalisation, in line with its official claims. Despite limited quantitative success, Beijing is creating a comprehensive financial system whose boundaries are ultimately defined by China’s domestic stability. Beijing aims to strengthen currency interoperability and promote payment/settlement innovation to penetrate and shape the financial system from within. This paper argues that China is pursuing a South-centred strategy to challenge the USD hegemony by addressing the North–South financial asymmetries. However, China is not the only player on that field. India, Brazil, and South Africa also raise monetary arguments to challenge the rising renminbi while ring-fencing their domestic economies as China can do. Despite the renminbi offering a consistent second best to the USD, as seen with the post-sanction Russian switch to the renminbi, the competition for global currency dominance is far from over.