The issue of the Chinese yuan as a premier international currency has been around for quite some time. Right now, only 3% of international trade transaction is conducted in yuan and, correspondingly, central banks around the world keep only 3% of their international reserves in Yuan. To most, this is quite puzzling as China is the world's second-largest economy with a GDP portion of 13.04% of world GDP and is the world's largest exporter with a global market share of 14.7%.
The "big four" international reserve currencies, so-called traditional reserve currencies, are the US dollar, Euro, Japanese yen, and British pound. As of 2021, these currencies accounted for 91% of world foreign currency reserves. Similarly, the Bank of Thailand maintains 92% of the country's foreign currency reserves in these currencies despite the fact that China is our largest trading partner.
