CIPS Hits $7 Trillion Monthly as China Expands Yuan Payments Beyond SWIFT

De-dollarization is no longer just an academic debate about the future of the monetary system. For a growing number of governments, reducing dependence on the dollar has become tied to financial resilience and national security.

Several major geopolitical events have reinforced those concerns, including Iran's exclusion from SWIFT, sanctions imposed on Russia and, most importantly, the freezing of part of Russia's foreign exchange reserves. These episodes demonstrated that access to dollar-based financial infrastructure can be restricted by political decisions, giving some countries a stronger incentive to develop alternative settlement channels.

China has been building one of the most important alternatives through the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System, better known as CIPS. Launched in 2015, the platform was designed to facilitate international yuan payments and settlements. From relatively modest volumes during its early years, CIPS has grown into a major cross-border network handling trillions of dollars in transactions.

Sanctions and Reserve Freezes Accelerated Demand for Yuan Payments

The expansion of CIPS has not followed a steady path. Instead, some of its strongest periods of growth have come alongside geopolitical shocks and restrictions involving the dollar-based financial system.

Several major events stand out:

• 2012 – Iran's disconnection from SWIFT
• 2014 – Sanctions against Russia
• 2017–2018 – Launch of the yuan-denominated oil contract and Trump's first trade war with China
• 2022 – Freezing of Russia's foreign exchange reserves
• 2023 – Biden administration restrictions on advanced chip exports to China
• 2025 – A new round of Trump's trade war with China and a US strike on Iran

The shift became particularly visible after 2022, when Western governments froze access to a significant portion of Russia's overseas reserves. Cross-border yuan activity accelerated sharply afterward as Russia and several of its trading partners increased the use of China's currency for international settlements.

The broader incentive is straightforward. If governments believe assets or payment channels denominated in a particular currency could become vulnerable to sanctions, diversification becomes more attractive. That can include holding alternative reserve assets, settling bilateral trade in local currencies or using financial infrastructure outside the traditional dollar-centered system.

CIPS Has Grown Into a Major Cross-Border Payment Network

Official data from the People's Bank of China shows how quickly the system has expanded.

In 2025,CIPS processed 8.4419 million transactions with a combined annual value equivalent to roughly $25.55 trillion. Preliminary figures from the first half of 2026 indicate that transaction activity continued to rise.

Average daily transaction value increased from approximately $96 billion in 2025 to around $118 billion by June 2026.

The network itself has expanded alongside volumes. CIPS now connects 210 direct participants and 1,619 indirect participants, including banks and financial institutions across multiple markets.

That represents a substantial change from 2015, when international institutions had far fewer options for conducting large-scale yuan settlements without relying extensively on dollar-based correspondent banking channels.

The Yuan Is Growing, but It Still Trails the Dollar by a Wide Margin

The rapid expansion of CIPS does not mean the yuan is close to replacing the dollar as the world's dominant reserve and payment currency.

According to SWIFT data, the yuan accounted for approximately 3.10% of global payments in June 2026, ranking fifth among major currencies. Its role is more significant in trade finance, where its share was around 8.00%, but the dollar remains far ahead across the broader international financial system.

China's overall cross-border yuan activity has nevertheless continued to increase. By the end of 2025, cross-border transactions denominated in yuan reached the equivalent of roughly $9.9 trillion, up 10.2% from the previous year.

That suggests the yuan is becoming increasingly important for bilateral trade, regional settlement and transactions involving countries looking to reduce exposure to sanctions risk.

For now, however, its role is more specialized than universal. The yuan is gaining ground as an alternative settlement currency, particularly among China's major trading partners, but it has yet to challenge the dollar's position as the world's primary reserve currency.

The broader trend remains notable. Episodes involving sanctions, frozen reserves and restrictions on access to the dollar system have repeatedly coincided with stronger interest in alternative payment infrastructure. CIPS has become one of the clearest beneficiaries of that shift.