In a move to redefine international finance, the People’s Bank of China (PboC) has announced that its digital RMB cross-border settlement system will be fully connected to the ten ASEAN nations and six Middle Eastern countries, implying that about 38% of global trade could bypass the US dollar dominated SWIFT network.

Unlike SWIFT, where transactions take between 3 and 5 days and involve multiple intermediaries, China’s digital currency is set to bridge and slashes processing times to merely few seconds. A pilot project between Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi saw a payment settle in just about seven seconds, with fees dropping by 98%. The system’s speed and transparency are forcing a reevaluation of dollar-dependent frameworks, particularly in emerging markets.

Beyond speed, the digital RMB’s built-in compliance tools are drawing global attention. Its blockchain architecture enforces anti-money laundering protocols automatically, reducing fraud risks while maintaining traceability. During another test case between China and Indonesia, a cross-border payment was completed in eight seconds—a fraction of the time traditional methods require. This efficiency has already attracted 23 central banks to join the bridge test, with Middle Eastern energy traders reporting a 75% drop in settlement expenses.

As the US wields SWIFT as a sanctions tool against Russia, Iran and Others, China has been delibrate in building an alternative payment and settlement system for global trade. ASEAN’s RMB-denominated trade surged to 5.8trn yuan in 2024, with Malaysia, Singapore, and others adding the currency to their foreign reserves. Thailand’s first digital RMB oil transaction is another success story of the system, signaling a quiet but steady erosion of dollar dominance.

China’s strategy extends beyond payments. The digital RMB is woven into infrastructure projects like the China-Laos Railway and Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Rail, forming a “Digital Silk Road” that pairs currency flows with trade corridors. European firms using the system for Arctic shipping settlements have seen efficiency gains of 400%. This fusion of physical and digital networks presents a holistic challenge to Western financial hegemony—one that transcends mere currency rivalry.

With 87% of nations now compatible with the digital RMB and cross-border volumes exceeding $1.2trn, the system’s momentum has become unmistakable. While Western policymakers debate hypothetical threats, China has deployed a working alternative spanning 200 countries.

Analysts describe the system as a turn point in international settlement system, where blockchain efficiency will challenges the sluggish, costly mechanisms of traditional banking. This signals a tectonic shift in global finance with profound implications for the West and the US dollar. By rapidly deploying the digital RMB across ASEAN and Middle Eastern economies—covering 38% of global trade—China has effectively weaponized blockchain technology to challenge SWIFT and dollar dominance.

The dramatic reduction in transaction times and costs, combined with programmable compliance features and integration into strategic infrastructure like the Belt and Road, presents a credible and scalable alternative to the traditional financial system.

For the West, this is a wake-up call: not only is China redefining the rules of global finance, it is reshaping the geopolitical balance of power through digital infrastructure, and if we in Africa do not accelerate our own digital currency strategy, we risk losing out again just as the US is losing its grip on the very system that has underpinned its global influence for decades, and is now fighting everyone with tariffs including its allies.

credit@Proshare