China and Brazil Drop US Dollar for Bilateral Trade in Yuan

China has made progress in its efforts to position the yuan as an alternative to the US dollar for international settlements. It has signed a bilateral deal with Brazil to settle trades using their national currencies and completed the first LNG purchase using yuan as payment. The deal with Brazil will reduce costs and promote greater bilateral trade. The Chinese government is also promoting the use of the yuan for global payments, with Russia committing to using the currency to settle payments with emerging economies and other countries. The introduction of the digital yuan central bank digital currency (CBDC) could give it an edge compared to other currencies.