In the context of profound changes in the global economic landscape and increasingly active cross-border capital flows, the cross-border payment system is accelerating its development towards diversification and networking.
From March 24 to 27, the Boao Forum for Asia 2026 Annual Conference was held in Boao, Hainan. The sub-forum “Building a Diversified Cross-Border Payment System” conducted in-depth discussions around the coordinated development of cross-border payment efficiency, cost and security.
The guests at the meeting agreed that the optimization direction of the future cross-border payment system lies in building a diverse, symbiotic, and interconnected system ecosystem.
In this process, CIPS (RMB Cross-border Payment System), as an important financial infrastructure, is continuously improving its service capabilities and global network coverage, providing strong support for the internationalization of RMB.
At the same time, as multilateral cooperation mechanisms such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS continue to deepen, cross-border payment needs and local currency settlement scenarios continue to expand, which also provides a broader application space for the development of CIPS.
The cross-border payment system is accelerating its transformation and upgrading, and the basic supporting role of CIPS continues to strengthen.
At present, the traditional cross-border payment system mainly relies on the agency bank model, which has common problems such as long chains, many links, and efficiency that needs to be improved.
At the same time, as the scale of international trade and cross-border investment continues to expand, market entities have put forward higher requirements for payment efficiency, cost control and security.
Against this background, how to achieve an effective balance between efficiency, cost and security has become an important issue in the optimization of the cross-border payment system.
In line with this development trend, the cross-border payment system is accelerating its transformation from a single model to a diversified system.
As an important channel for RMB cross-border clearing, CIPS effectively shortens cross-border payment links, improves settlement efficiency, and enhances the stability and security of system operations by continuously optimizing business rules, improving system functions, and improving processing capabilities.
As service capabilities continue to improve, CIPS plays an increasingly important role in supporting the cross-border use of RMB and ensuring the efficient flow of funds, and is gradually becoming a key hub supporting the operation of the RMB cross-border payment system.
Regional cooperation and interconnection continue to deepen, and the CIPS global network is steadily expanding.
The construction of a diversified cross-border payment system is inseparable from the continuous improvement of interconnection and interoperability mechanisms.
In recent years, with the continuous deepening of regional economic cooperation, the cross-border payment system has shown a more obvious regional development trend. The role of emerging markets represented by the “Global South” in the system has continued to increase, becoming an important force in promoting the evolution of the cross-border payment pattern.
In this context, multilateral cooperation frameworks such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS continue to promote the coordinated development of local currency settlement and regional finance. The cross-border payment system is gradually evolving from a single currency-dominated structure to a more diversified and balanced structure.
CIPS plays an important infrastructure support role in this process.
Specifically, CIPS continues to expand the scope of participating institutions and service networks, promotes more domestic and foreign financial institutions to access the system, and gradually builds a global clearing network with extensive coverage and efficient operation.
At the same time, relying on standardized rules and unified interfaces will promote effective connection and collaborative operation between different payment systems, and continue to improve the overall efficiency and operational quality of cross-border payments.
As multilateral financial cooperation mechanisms continue to improve, the cross-border payment system is accelerating its transformation from traditional bilateral cooperation to multilateral collaboration.
CIPS plays an active role in serving regional economic and trade cooperation, supporting local currency settlement, and promoting the interconnection of cross-border payment networks, providing strong support for building a more stable and efficient cross-border capital flow system.
Technological integration and application scenario expansion go hand in hand, and CIPS service capabilities continue to improve.
With the accelerated development of digital technology, the cross-border payment system is accelerating its evolution towards digitalization and intelligence.
The deep integration of emerging technologies such as digital currency, blockchain, and artificial intelligence with payment infrastructure provides new development space for cross-border payment model innovation.
At the same time, payment services have gradually extended from the traditional single settlement function to a system integrating payment, clearing, risk control and comprehensive services, which has put forward higher requirements for system capabilities.
In this context, CIPS continues to promote system upgrades and functional optimization, and continuously improves cross-border payment processing efficiency and risk prevention and control levels.
At the same time, through coordinated development with new technology applications such as digital renminbi, cross-border payment services will continue to evolve in a more efficient, convenient and secure direction.
At the same time, as the “Belt and Road” construction continues to advance and application scenarios such as cross-border e-commerce, supply chain finance, and commodity trading continue to expand, the demand for the use of RMB in international trade and investment continues to grow.
Especially in the context of the promotion of RMB pricing and settlement in the fields of energy, resources and other bulk commodities, and the deepening of financial cooperation with countries in the “Global South”, CIPS provides a more stable and sustainable basic support for the cross-border use of RMB.
By providing stable and reliable clearing services, CIPS effectively supports the use of RMB in trade, investment and various financial activities, and plays a positive role in enhancing the international influence of RMB.
To sum up, in the context of accelerating the construction of a diversified cross-border payment system, CIPS is providing solid support for the internationalization of the RMB by continuously improving infrastructure, expanding global networks, and improving service capabilities.
Looking forward to the future, with the further deepening of multilateral cooperation mechanisms such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS, and the continuous improvement of the interconnection level of cross-border payment systems, CIPS is expected to play a more important hub role in the global financial system, contributing actively to promoting international economic and financial cooperation and promoting the construction of a more diversified and stable new international financial pattern.
