At the ongoing autumn edition of the Canton Fair in Guangzhou – China’s oldest and largest trade exhibition – Chinese exporters are noticing a quietly spreading shift: an increasing number of overseas clients, particularly from emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, Central Asia and Africa, are proactively proposing to settle trade orders in yuan.
Wang Lilin, sales director at diesel generator manufacturer Keypower, said the company had seen a clear rise in yuan settlements over the past two years.
“Customers from several countries, such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Central Asian nations including Kazakhstan, have requested that we use yuan for trade settlements,” she said. “We also encourage new clients from these markets to consider using yuan.”
Wang said that yuan-settled orders now account for between 10 and 20 per cent of the company’s total exports, up from single digits last year.
“We’re pleased to see this share growing year by year,” she added. In her view, the expansion of yuan settlements is closely tied to broader industry momentum.
“Data centre projects in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand are frequently built by Chinese suppliers, driving both our load-bank products and yuan-settled orders overseas. Additionally, developing countries still lack adequate power infrastructure, making diesel-generator sets essential,” Wang said.
