Xi calls for building 'strong' yuan to boost global role, challenge dollar dominance

Beijing, Feb 1: Chinese President Xi Jinping has pitched for building a "strong currency" to expand the global use of the yuan and elevate it to the status of an international reserve, a move seen as a call to challenge the US dollar. China, the world's second-largest economy after the US, has been accelerating the use of the yuan in international trade to reduce reliance on the US dollar. Last year, it settled nearly one-third of its USD 6.2 trillion foreign trade in local currency. In an article published in Qiushi, the ruling Communist Party’s leading theoretical journal, on Saturday, Xi said China needs to build a “strong currency” that can be widely used in international trade, investment and foreign exchange markets, and achieve the status of a global reserve.