Yuan’s global popularity keeps rising

Growing acceptance: A bank employee counting 100-yuan notes in Nantong, China’s eastern Jiangsu province. Usage of the currency has jumped in the past three months as international funds boosted holdings of Chinese government bonds. — AFP

BEIJING: The Chinese yuan is making deeper inroads as a currency of choice for global payments, with international transactions climbing to their highest level ever.

Payments using the currency jumped to a record 3.2% of market share, according to data from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications, breaking through its previous high set in 2015 that came on the back of a currency devaluation in a bid to increase exports.