Many people do not realize that in their daily life of filling up gas, buying groceries, shopping overseas, and doing foreign trade, price fluctuations and transfer fees are closely related to global cross-border fund clearing rules.
In 2026, the central bank will implement a new version of the cross-border RMB payment system management rules, and the autonomous clearing system will be improved at the institutional level. This set of changes is not only a business adjustment for financial institutions, but will steadily reduce the comprehensive costs of ordinary people’s cross-border consumption and merchant operations in the long term, and is closely related to the income and expenditure of thousands of households.
1. Realistic constraints existing in the past cross-border settlement system
In the past few decades, most cross-border capital flows around the world have relied on unified overseas clearing channels to complete transfers.
Whether it is large-volume goods transactions between enterprises from the two countries, or ordinary residents studying abroad, or online cross-border shopping, fund transactions must first be converted into a third-party currency to complete the settlement. Multi-layer agent banks participate in the process, which will add multiple handling fees and exchange rate difference losses.
A merchant in a border area who sells fruits and vegetables all year round can intuitively feel the operating pressure brought by this model.
After the goods are delivered to overseas customers, the payment needs to be transferred through multiple levels of overseas agency banks. The fund arrival cycle is generally lengthened, and each level of transfer will incur corresponding service fees.
Once the cooperative overseas banks are subject to external control, the payment of goods will be delayed, and the pressure on small and medium-sized merchants’ capital turnover will increase.
Putting it into the lives of ordinary residents, this kind of cost burden is equally clear.
When traveling abroad or exchanging foreign currency for children studying abroad, two currency conversions will generate additional expenses; international crude oil, grain and other bulk commodities have been priced in a single currency for a long time. Exchange rate fluctuations caused by overseas monetary policy adjustments will be transmitted along the supply chain to the domestic retail end, and daily basic household expenses are prone to fluctuations.
Many economies around the world have been facing the cost and financial security risks caused by this type of settlement for a long time, and promoting diversified settlement channels has become a common demand of all countries.
2. New official regulations will be implemented in 2026, and the RMB autonomous clearing system will be completed and improved
On February 1, 2026, the “Business Rules for the RMB Cross-border Payment System” revised and released by the Central Bank were officially implemented, replacing the old version of the system that had been in use for many years. It built a standardized RMB clearing system framework that adapts to the global market from five major sections: account management, global institution access, fund settlement processes, risk emergency response, and full-scenario business specifications. This is the core policy adjustment in the cross-border financial field this year.
Supporting infrastructure continues to expand simultaneously, and the RMB cross-border payment system CIPS has been built iteratively for many years. In the first quarter of 2026, the number of directly participating banks and global indirect cooperative financial institutions in the system has steadily increased. Its business covers most countries and regions around the world, and it can connect to thousands of overseas bank outlets, with stable cooperation institutions on six continents.
The system’s daily clearing transaction scale has maintained a steady upward trend. From its early years as an auxiliary supplementary channel, it has gradually become the core carrier of cross-border RMB clearing.
This system has improved and synchronized two types of supplementary channels to form a clearing network that operates in a complementary manner.
First, the pilot program for offshore RMB-related businesses in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone continues to be optimized, with major state-owned banks conducting offshore RMB business in compliance with regulations, shortening domestic and overseas capital flow links, and reducing additional costs caused by multi-layer transfers; second, the cross-border service scenarios for digital RMB have steadily expanded, with multiple licensed financial institutions completing system docking, and the digital RMB point-to-point cross-border clearing model continues to be implemented, complementing traditional bank clearing channels.
At the level of monetary cooperation, the central bank continues to renew and add bilateral local currency swap agreements with many countries. Resource exporting countries in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Latin America are gradually expanding the scope of direct RMB settlement in trade scenarios.
In the trade of bulk commodities such as energy, minerals, and agricultural products, the business scale of direct RMB redemption has steadily increased, enriching commodity transaction settlement options and mitigating the impact of fluctuations caused by single currency pricing.
Compared with the traditional transit clearing model, this autonomous clearing system has three pragmatic advantages: First, the capital flow link is streamlined, reducing the multi-layer overseas agent bank transfer link, and the efficiency of cross-border fund arrival has been improved; second, the risk control mechanism is more perfect, and the new regulations set up a zero balance management mechanism for overseas institutions’ accounts. Every day
Clearing accounts precipitates funds and reduces external control risks in the process of capital circulation; third, it adapts to the needs of diverse market entities. Large multinational enterprises, small and micro border trading merchants, and individual cross-border consumption all have corresponding compliance settlement channels. Institutional access thresholds continue to be optimized, and the access difficulty for small and medium-sized financial institutions is gradually reduced.
3. Foreign trade operators are the first to benefit, and the operating burden of small and micro enterprises is gradually eased
The actual benefits brought by the optimization of the clearing system rules are first reflected in various foreign trade merchants across the country.
Merchants engaged in cross-border trade of small commodities and fresh produce on the border between Guangxi and Yunnan can now settle with overseas purchasers directly in RMB, eliminating the price difference and handling fees caused by two currency exchanges, and comprehensive transaction costs can be reasonably controlled.
A manufacturer that has been exporting daily necessities to the outside world for a long time said that in the past, exchange differences and multi-layer clearing fees for goods sold to Southeast Asia would take up part of the operating profits; after switching to the direct RMB clearing channel, the comprehensive circulation loss has been significantly narrowed, and the company can save a sum of working capital every year, which can be used to update production equipment and improve employee compensation and benefits.
The efficiency of capital turnover has been improved simultaneously. In the past, small cross-border repayments required several days of waiting. Now most compliant small trade transactions can be cleared on the same day. Small and micro enterprises do not need to advance funds for a long time to bear the cost of capital occupation.
In bilateral economic and trade exchanges between China and Russia, China and Brazil, the proportion of direct settlement business in local currencies continues to steadily increase, and bilateral merchant transactions can reduce the third-party currency transfer process.
Domestic raw material importing companies can directly purchase overseas minerals, grain and oil materials through RMB, which smoothes the cost fluctuations caused by international exchange rate fluctuations to a certain extent. Domestic processing companies’ production costs are more stable, and the room for fluctuations in terminal retail commodity pricing has narrowed.
Overseas RMB financing channels have been expanded simultaneously, financing channels for overseas compliance institutions to issue RMB bonds domestically have continued to be smooth, and the demand for RMB asset allocation in overseas markets has steadily increased.
Overseas funds flow into the domestic capital market in compliance with regulations, the financing environment for real enterprises continues to optimize, and the demand for jobs in cross-border e-commerce and import and export manufacturing industries remains stable, providing workers with more employment channels to increase their income.
4. Visible changes in the lives of ordinary residents, benefiting travel, consumption, and asset allocation in many aspects
Most residents will think that global currency settlement rules are only relevant to companies and financial institutions and are far away from daily family life. In fact, the adjustment of the entire system will gradually penetrate into all aspects of ordinary people’s clothing, food, housing, transportation, and financial planning in the long run.
First, outbound travel and study abroad fund expenditures are more stable.
Supermarkets, scenic spots, and retail stores in many countries in Southeast Asia have gradually opened RMB code scanning payment channels. Relying on the digital RMB cross-border clearing channel, there is no need to exchange large amounts of foreign currency in advance when traveling, reducing the additional handling fees incurred by currency conversion.
For families studying abroad for a long time, the loss caused by the price difference each year can be reasonably reduced, and the pressure on funds for outbound visits to relatives and tourism has been alleviated.
Second, price fluctuations in cross-border online shopping and imported consumer goods have narrowed.
Major cross-border e-commerce platforms have gradually opened direct RMB clearing channels for overseas maternal and infant, fresh food, cosmetics and other imported goods, reducing multi-layer transfer price increases, and product pricing transparency continues to improve.
At the same time, the scale of RMB settlement of commodities has steadily expanded, and the transmission effect of overseas monetary policy fluctuations on domestic retail prices of gasoline, edible oil, and meat has weakened. Household monthly basic living expenses have become less volatile, and daily income and expenditure plans have become more stable.
Third, residents’ asset allocation choices have become more diversified and the buffer space for fluctuations has increased.
In the past, domestic prices and market financial management income tended to fluctuate with overseas monetary policies. As the scope of global circulation of RMB continues to expand, many countries have included RMB in the category of reserve assets, and the long-term allocation value of RMB assets has steadily increased.
Overseas compliant funds continue to increase their holdings of domestic bonds and equity assets, the liquidity of the domestic capital market remains stable, ordinary residents have more compliant financial management options, the risk of asset shocks caused by single external market fluctuations has been mitigated, and the stability of children’s education and pension reserve planning has been enhanced.
Fourth, the market employment track continues to expand.
Cross-border trade, cross-border payment, digital foreign trade, and cross-border financial supporting service industries are seeing room for continued development. Banks, foreign trade companies, and cross-border technology companies in various regions continue to expand related positions. The development space for practitioners who are familiar with cross-border settlement and cross-border e-commerce business is steadily increasing. Ordinary workers have more stable ways to increase their income.
5. Looking at the pace of development objectively and rationally, a multi-currency system is the long-term stable direction
The continued improvement of the RMB global clearing system does not mean that the original international settlement channels will withdraw from the market in the short term. The global financial market will maintain the pattern of parallel settlement of multiple currencies in the long term.
The cross-border transaction habits and overseas stock capital layout formed over many years need to be adjusted step by step. The improvement of supporting systems and global clearing infrastructure is also a long-term project that is steadily advanced, and there is no short-term complete replacement.
The core goal of the construction of an autonomous clearing system is to enrich the settlement options of global market entities, build a compliant transaction path that is not restricted by a single external channel, reduce systemic financial risks in the fields of global trade, investment and financing, and meet the development aspirations of most countries around the world in pursuit of economic independence and stability.
All rule optimization and system expansion work core serve the development of the real economy, and the final goal of various system adjustments is to reduce business operating costs and stabilize residents’ daily expenditure burden.
From the long-term development trend, the diversification of global trade settlement is the direction of continuous advancement. The continuous improvement of the RMB cross-border clearing network will continue to release positive chain effects: the profit margins of foreign trade companies will be reasonably guaranteed, domestic consumer goods price fluctuations will narrow, residents’ cross-border consumption costs will steadily decline, and market jobs will continue to expand. Various benefits will be gradually released in the next few years, covering all aspects of public life.
