Why China and Russia Are Struggling to Abandon the US Dollar

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/2182192/why-china-and-russia-are-struggling-abandon-us-dollar-and

• Another delay to a bilateral payments system shows how tough it is to develop an alternative to the US dollar
• But the rise in Russia-China trade means the two countries won’t abandon the mission, analysts say

Russia and China plan to ditch the US dollar and switch to local currencies in international trade but yet another delay to a new system for yuan-rouble settlements shows just how complex it is to develop an alternative to the greenback.

Russia, China and a number of other countries are aiming to cut their dependence on the US dollar, as Washington uses access to the dollar payment system as a weapon to punish nations and individuals for breaking US laws, even outside the United States.

In November, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that Moscow and Beijing were finalising a memorandum to settle more bilateral trade in the rouble and yuan.

The two countries were also reportedly in talks to launch a new cross-border system to improve direct payments of trade invoices, and for the use of China’s UnionPay credit card in Russia and Russia’s Mir card in China.