The Nail In The Petrodollar Coffin: Gazprom Begins Accepting Payment For Oil In Ruble, Yuan

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The Nail In The Petrodollar Coffin: Gazprom Begins Accepting Payment For Oil In Ruble, Yuan (ZeroHedge, Aug 27, 2014):

Several months ago, when Russia announced the much anticipated “Holy Grail” energy deal with China, some were disappointed that despite this symbolic agreement meant to break the petrodollar’s stranglehold on the rest of the world, neither Russia nor China announced payment terms to be in anything but dollars. In doing so they admitted that while both nations are eager to move away from a US Dollar reserve currency, neither is yet able to provide an alternative.

This changed in late June when first Gazprom’s CFO announced the gas giant was ready to settle China contracts in Yuan or Rubles, and at the same time the People’s Bank of China announced that its Assistant Governor Jin Qi and Russian central bank Deputy Chairman Dmitry Skobelkin held a meeting in which they discussed cooperating on project and trade financing using local currencies. The meeting discussed cooperation in bank card, insurance and financial supervision sectors.

And yet, while both sides declared their operational readiness and eagerness to bypass the dollar entirely, such plans remained purely in the arena of monetary foreplay and the long awaited first shot across the Petrodollar bow was absent.

Until now.

According to Russia’s RIA Novosti, citing business daily Kommersant, Gazprom Neft has agreed to export 80,000 tons of oil from Novoportovskoye field in the Arctic; it will accept payment in rubles, and will also deliver oil via the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline (ESPO), accepting payment in Chinese yuan for the transfers. Meaning Russia will export energy to either Europe or China, and receive payment in either Rubles or Yuan, in effect making the two currencies equivalent as far as the Eurasian axis is conerned, but most importantly, transact completely away from the US dollar thus, finally putin'(sic) in action the move for a Petrodollar-free world.

Read moreThe Nail In The Petrodollar Coffin: Gazprom Begins Accepting Payment For Oil In Ruble, Yuan

When You See This Happen, You Know It’s Game Over For The Dollar

In my opinion gold in (extended or permanent) backwardation is signalling a total loss of confidence in the $US Dollar and is a clear sign that the dollar endgame is here.

The Great Depression will soon look like a walk in the park.


Dollar-Endgame

When You See This Happen, You Know It’s Game Over For The Dollar (ZeroHedge, July 16, 2014):

Exactly 70 years ago to the day, hundreds of delegates from 44 nations were busy at work in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire creating a brand new financial system.

World War II had just ended. Europe was in ruin.

And since the US was simultaneously the largest economy in the world, the primary victor in the war, and the only major power with its productive capacity intact, it was easy to dictate terms: the dollar would dominate the new system.

Every nation would hold dollars as the primary reserve currency, and the dollar would be redeemable for gold at $35/ounce.

Read moreWhen You See This Happen, You Know It’s Game Over For The Dollar

By ‘Punishing’ France, The US Just Accelerated The Demise Of The Dollar

By “Punishing” France, The US Just Accelerated The Demise Of The Dollar (ZeroHedge, July 4, 2014):

Not even we anticipated this particular “unintended consequence” as a result of the US multi-billion dollar fine on BNP (which France took very much to heart). Moments ago, in a lengthy interview given to French magazine Investir, none other than the governor of the French National Bank Christian Noyer and member of the ECB’s governing board, said this stunner at the very end, via Bloomberg:

  • NOYER: BNP CASE WILL ENCOURAGE ‘DIVERSIFICATION’ FROM DOLLAR

Here is the full google translated segment:

Q. Doesn’t the role of the dollar as an international currency create systemic risk?

Noyer: Beyond [the BNP] case, increased legal risks from the application of U.S. rules to all dollar transactions around the world will encourage a diversification from the dollar. BNP Paribas was the occasion for many observers to remember that there has been a number of sanctions and that there would certainly be others in the future. A movement to diversify the currencies used in international trade is inevitable. Trade between Europe and China does not need to use the dollar and may be read and fully paid in euros or renminbi. Walking towards a multipolar world is the natural monetary policy, since there are several major economic and monetary powerful ensembles. China has decided to develop the renminbi as a settlement currency. The Bank of France was behind the popular ECB-PBOC swap and we have just concluded a memorandum on the creation of a system of offshore renminbi clearing in Paris. We have very strong cooperation with the PBOC in this field. But these changes take time. We must not forget that it took decades after the United States became the world’s largest economy for the dollar to replace the British pound as the first international currency. But the phenomenon of U.S. rules expanding to all USD-denominated transactions around the world can have an accelerating effect.

In other words, the head of the French central bank, and ECB member, Christian Noyer, just issued a direct threat to the world’s reserve currency (for now), the US Dollar.

Read moreBy ‘Punishing’ France, The US Just Accelerated The Demise Of The Dollar

MSM Admits: ‘The US Dollar’s Domination Is Coming To An End’

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–  Wow. Mainstream press: “The US’s dollar domination is coming to an end”  (Sovereign Man, June 18, 2014):

“Whoever is winning at the moment will always seem to be invincible.”

– George Orwell

Wise words indeed as they aptly describe misguided confidence in the US dollar.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), which helps manage the global banking system, tells us that US dollar settlement accounts for the vast majority of global trade.

And as Orwell suggests, many people take it for granted that just because the dollar is in the lead today, it will be that way forever.

They couldn’t be more wrong. There’s been a dominant reserve currency for thousands of years.

Read moreMSM Admits: ‘The US Dollar’s Domination Is Coming To An End’

Gazprom Ready To Drop Dollar, Settle China Contracts In Yuan Or Rubles

Gazprom Ready To Drop Dollar, Settle China Contracts In Yuan Or Rubles (ZeroHedge, June 26, 2014):

A little over a month ago, when Russia announced the much anticipated “Holy Grail” energy deal with China, some were disappointed that despite this symbolic agreement meant to break the petrodollar’s stranglehold on the rest of the world, neither Russia nor China announced payment terms to be in anything but dollars. In doing so they admitted that while both nations are eager to move away from a US Dollar reserve currency, neither is yet able to provide an alternative. This changed rather dramatically overnight when in a little noticed statement, Gazprom’s CFO Andrey Kruglov uttered the magic words (via Bloomberg):

  • GAZPROM READY TO SETTLE CHINA CONTRACTS IN YUAN OR RUBLES: CFO

In other words just as the US may or may not be preparing to export crude – a step which would weaken the dollar’s reserve status as traditional US oil trading partners will need to find other import customers who pay in non-USD currencies – the world’s two other superpowers are preparing to respond. And once the bilateral trade in Rubles or Renminbi is established, the rest of the energy world will piggyback.

Read moreGazprom Ready To Drop Dollar, Settle China Contracts In Yuan Or Rubles

‘This Is A Trend’: Increasingly More Russian Companies Set To Drop Dollar, Switch To Chinese Yuan

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“This Is A Trend”: Increasingly More Russian Companies Set To Drop Dollar, Switch To Chinese Yuan (ZeroHedge, June 9, 2014):

As we have been reporting (and forecasting for the past several years), the Eurasian anti-US Dollar axis is rapidly taking shape, with recent events catalyzed and certainly accelerated by US foreign policy in Ukraine, which has merely succeeded in pushing Russia that much closer, and faster, to China. The latest proof of this came overnight when the FT reported that Russian companies are preparing to switch contracts to renminbi and other Asian currencies amid fears that western sanctions may freeze them out of the US dollar market, according to two top bankers.

According to Pavel Teplukhin, head of Deutsche Bank in Russia, cited by the Financial Times, “Over the last few weeks there has been a significant interest in the market from large Russian corporations to start using various products in renminbi and other Asian currencies and to set up accounts in Asian locations.”

Read more‘This Is A Trend’: Increasingly More Russian Companies Set To Drop Dollar, Switch To Chinese Yuan

The Silent Crash of China’s Currency

–  The Silent Crash of China’s Currency (ZeroHedge, May 11, 2014):

The financial markets in the West are barely pulling themselves together these days and over the last few weeks and months we have discussed the underlying issues at length; especially in the United States the pressure is on as the Fed’s tapering program continues ruthlessly. The US is not the only part of the world, however, where the skies are grey above the markets. We have not read a lot of positive news about the East lately either, where specifically China’s economy is in a slump.

Read moreThe Silent Crash of China’s Currency

Is Someone Betting Furiously That The Chinese Currency Collapses By The End Of 2014?

Is Someone Betting Furiously That The Chinese Currency Collapses By The End Of 2014? (ZeroHedge, April 26, 2014):

Last week, USDCNY began to accelerate lower and break across the “real pain” threshold that we have been discussing for many of the world’s so-called “hedgers” who have been riding the one-way strengthening trend of the CNY for years and piled in with leveraged trades on what had been a one-way bet. The collapse this week, to levels not seen since pre-BoJ QQE and pre-Fed QE3 appeared to trigger an avalanche of unwinds or hedges of the exposures we have been worrying about. As the chart below shows, billions of dollars of upside calls on USDCNY were purchased on Friday with serious size out to 6.65 strikes (levels not seen since 2009) by the end of 2014.

PBOC Pressures USD Hegemony; Starts Yuan-Denominated Gold & Oil Trading

PBOC Pressures USD Hegemony; Starts Yuan-Denominated Gold & Oil Trading (ZeroHedge, April 25, 2014):

With 23 foreign central banks diversifying from US Dollars to Renminbi and the PBOC actively aiding numerous major financial hubs around the world with bilateral currency swap agreements, it seems yet another nail in the coffin of US dollar hegemony just got hit…

  • *PBOC AIMS TO SET UP GLOBAL PAYMENT SYSTEM FOR YUAN: SEC. NEWS
  • *PBOC TO MAKE GOLD, OIL FUTURES YUAN DENOMINATED: SEC. NEWS

Nothing lasts forever, no matter how much you believe…

Read morePBOC Pressures USD Hegemony; Starts Yuan-Denominated Gold & Oil Trading

It’s On: Gazprom Prepares ‘Symbolic’ Bond Issue In Chinese Yuan

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It’s On: Gazprom Prepares “Symbolic” Bond Issue In Chinese Yuan (ZeroHedge, April 10, 2014):

Curious what the fate of the petrodollar is? Look no farther than this Interfax update blasted moments ago by Bloomberg: “Gazprom Considers ‘Symbolic’ Yuan Bond Issue, Interfax Says.”

Bloomberg adds that the gas giant is considering proposals from potential organizers to market bonds in yuan, Interfax reports, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

  • Gazprom unlikely be able to gain more than $300m due to mkt volume, newswire reports
  • No mandates, deal timeline yet
  • Issue may add new investors, become a “topical” public relations act amid tensions with U.S., EU

Well, yes. It’s called “symbolic” for a reason. More importantly, it is a symbol of what happens when one can “create” money de novo without the presence of the world’s increasingly defunct reserve currency, either secured by gas or by future cash flows, i.e., unsecured.

Confused? Read:

Read moreIt’s On: Gazprom Prepares ‘Symbolic’ Bond Issue In Chinese Yuan

40 Central Banks Are Betting This Will Be The Next Reserve Currency

40 Central Banks Are Betting This Will Be The Next Reserve Currency (ZeroHedge, April 8, 2014):

As we have discussed numerous times, nothing lasts forever – especially reserve currencies – no matter how much one hopes that the status-quo remains so, in the end the exuberant previlege is extorted just one too many times. Headline after headlines shows nations declaring ‘interest’ or direct discussions in diversifying away from the US dollar… and as SCMP reports, Standard Chartered notes that at least 40 central banks have invested in the Yuan and several more are preparing to do so. The trend is occurring across both emerging markets and developed nation central banks diversifiying into ‘other currencies’ and “a great number of central banks are in the process of adding yuan to their portfolios.” Perhaps most ominously, for king dollar, is the former-IMF manager’s warning that “The Yuan may become a de facto reserve currency before it is fully convertible.”

The infamous chart that shows nothing lasts forever…

Nothing lasts forever… (especially in light of China’s recent comments)

Reserve Currency Status

As The South China Morning Post reports, Jukka Pihlman, Standard Chartered’s Singapore-based global head of central banks and sovereign wealth funds (who formerly worked at the International Monetary Fund advising central banks on asset-management issues), notes that:

At least 40 central banks have invested in the yuan and several others are preparing to do so, putting the mainland currency on the path to reserve status even before full convertibility

The US dollar remains in charge (for now)…but

Read more40 Central Banks Are Betting This Will Be The Next Reserve Currency

China And Germany Sign Yuan-Settlement Pact … And Obama Heads To Saudi Arabia

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The PBOC and Bundesbank Sign Pact to Turn Frankfurt into Yuan Hub….Meanwhile Obama Heads to Saudi Arabia (Liberty Blitzkrieg, March 28, 2014):

I haven’t paid too much attention as of late to agreements between China and other nations intended to expand the use of the yuan (renminbi) internationally, because the near-term implications always seem to be exaggerated by many market commentators. That said, this deal between the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and Germany’s Bundesbank seems quite significant given the importance of Germany within the global economy generally and the E.U. specifically.

From Bloomberg via BusinessWeek:

Germany’s Bundesbank and the People’s Bank of China agreed to cooperate in the clearing and settling of payments in renminbi, paving the way for Frankfurt to corner a share of the offshore market.

Read moreChina And Germany Sign Yuan-Settlement Pact … And Obama Heads To Saudi Arabia

China’s Yuan Drops Most In A Week As Property Developers Tumble

China’s Yuan Drops Most In A Week As Property Developers Tumble (ZeroHedge, March 25, 2014):

When we left China last night, it was all shits and giggles that bad news is great news and a Chinese stimulus plan will be here any minute to save the day. Having realized the sad fact that is not going to happen (as we explained here most recently) and the specter of banks runs looming, this evening’s session has seen property developer stocks tumble – retracing all of last night’s losses – the Yuan plunges by the most in a week back above 6.2150. Copper is holding in for now at the magic $300 level but corporate bond prices are falling once again (worst run in 4 months).

The Yuan is dumping at its fastest rate in a week…erasing all the hope-strewn gains from yesterday

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Property Developers are taking it on the chin…

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And it’s no wonder, as Bloomberg notes…

Read moreChina’s Yuan Drops Most In A Week As Property Developers Tumble

Russia Returns Favor, Sees Chinese Yuan As World Reserve Currency

Russia Returns Favor, Sees Chinese Yuan As World Reserve Currency (ZeroHedge, March 23, 2014):

Following China’s unwillingness to vote against Russia at the UN and yesterday’s news that China will sue Ukraine for $3bn loan repayment, it seems Russia is returning the favor. Speaking at the Chinese Economic Development Forum, ITAR-TASS reports, the Chief Economist of Russia’s largest bank stated that “China’s Yuan may become the third reserve currency in the in the future.”

Managing Director and Chief Economist of investment company Sberbank Yevgeny Gavrilenkov said at the 15th governmental Chinese economic development forum in the Chinese capital on Sunday (via ITAR-TASS):

Read moreRussia Returns Favor, Sees Chinese Yuan As World Reserve Currency

Kiwi Starts Direct Trading With Renminbi From Today

Kiwi starts direct trading with renminbi from today (The National Business Review, March 19, 2014):

Direct trading in the Chinese and New Zealand currencies starts today after a joint announcement in Beijing by Premier Li Keqiang and Prime Minister John Key as he began an official visit.

The long-awaited move means the kiwi joins the Australian and US dollars and the Japanese yen as the four market-making currencies that can be converted directly into renminbi (RMB) or yuan.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) says a reference rate for the currencies will be announced daily at 9:15am in Shanghai, with yuan moves limited to 3% on either side of the fixing.

Read moreKiwi Starts Direct Trading With Renminbi From Today

Yuan Tumbles To 11-Month Lows As China Home Price Growth Slows

Yuan Tumbles To 11-Month Lows As China Home Price Growth Slows (ZeroHedge, March 17, 2014):

It would appear that the widening of the daily trading bands (we discussed last night) are having a directional effect on USDCNY as the devaluation continues on the back of forced carry-trade unwinds. At 6.19, CNY is its weakest in 11 months (2.5% weaker than its lows in January) and the last 2 months have seen by far the biggest weakening in the currency on record. This ‘implied’ easing is modestly supporting the stock market and copper for now (though we suspect that is more spillover from risk-on squeezes post-Ukraine). While Goldman and BofA are adamant that widening the bands will not mean a change in trend overall, it seems clear that hot money is outflowing and driving a trend change anyway as corporate bond prices are not rising and home-price appreciation is slowing in the major cities.

USDCNY drops 100 pips to 6.19 – lowest in 11 months…

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Read moreYuan Tumbles To 11-Month Lows As China Home Price Growth Slows

China Currency Plunges Most In Over 5 Years, Biggest Weekly Loss Ever: Yuan Carry Traders Crushed

China Currency Plunges Most In Over 5 Years, Biggest Weekly Loss Ever: Yuan Carry Traders Crushed (ZeroHedge, Feb 27, 2014):

And just like that the Chinese yuan devaluation has shifted away from the merely “orderly.”

In the past few hours of trading, China, which as we reported two days ago has started intervening aggressively in the Yuan market (for the reasons why, read this), has seen its currency crash by nearly 0.9%, which may not seem like much, but is in fact the largest drop since December of 2008, and at last check was trading at around 6.18, even as the PBOC fixed the CNY reference rate 0.02% higher from the last official close to 6.1214, erasing pivot support point at 6.1346 and 6.1408.  Naturally this means that the obverse, the CNYUSD, has crashed to as low as 0.1620. Should this move sustain without reverting, this will be the biggest weekly loss ever!

Nigeria Central Bank Diversifies Reserves: Sells Dollars, Buys Chinese Yuan

Nigeria Central Bank Diversifies Reserves: Sells Dollars, Buys Chinese Yuan (ZeroHedge, Jan 28, 2014):

It seems the “dollar is a reserve currency for ever and ever” propaganda has not reached Africa, also known as Southern China as explained here two years ago, where moments ago the Central Bank of Nigeria issued the following surprise announcement:

  • CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA TO SELL DOLLARS TO DIVERSIFY RESERVES
  • NIGERIA CENTRAL BANK TO RAISE SHARE OF YUAN TO 7% FROM 2%
  • NIGERIA CENTRAL BANK TO DIVERSIFY RESERVES INTO YUAN
  • NIGERIA CENTRAL BANK CONSIDERING DIM SUM BOND: MOGHALU

But why would anyone buy Yuan when there are so many ever-more diluted dollars available? And now, let’s open it up for the most creative Nigerian email scam involving Chinese Yuan…

Yet Another Massive Nail In The Dollar’s Coffin

crash-dollar

Yet Another Massive Nail In The Dollar’s Coffin (ZeroHedge, Dec 14, 2013):

Two years ago, the CME announced USD/CNH futures trading enabling speculation (and hedging or risk transfer) of offshore Chinese Renminbi. On the other side of the world this week, a couple of gentlemen that few people have ever heard of signed an agreement that has massive consequences for the global financial system. It was a Memorandum of Understanding signed by representatives of the Singapore Exchange and Hong Kong Exchange. Their aim – to combine their forces in rolling out more financial products denominated in Chinese renminbi. This is huge…

Submitted by Simon Black via Sovereign Man blog,

Hong Kong and Singapore are THE two dominant financial centers in Asia. For years they’ve been locked in competition with one another, much like New York and London. So their public partnership is a very big deal… indicative of the clear objective they have in front of them.

Bottom line – finance executives in Asia see the writing on the wall. They can see that the dollar is in a period of terminal decline, and it’s clear that the Chinese renminbi is going to take tremendous market share away from the dollar. They want a big piece of the action.

The renminbi has already surpassed the euro to become the #2 most-used currency in the world when it comes to trade settlement, according to a report released yesterday by the Society of Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT).

Read moreYet Another Massive Nail In The Dollar’s Coffin

China Is Hoarding Gold Like A Dragon & Is Taking A Leap Forward To Control World Currency

‘China is taking a leap forward to control world currency’ (RT, Sep 11, 2013):

It is obvious that China is up to something hoarding gold like a dragon. In fact, it is taking a leap forward to control the world currency and to replace it with the yuan, Dr. Thorsten Pattberg, China expert at the Peking University, told RT.

China is vowing to make more reforms, among them cutting red tape and establishing the yuan as a world currency. The 7th Annual Meeting of the New Champions is opening in the Chinese city of Dalian, the gathering has become known as a ‘summer Davos’. RT has talked to Dr. Pattberg about China’s prospects for introducing a new world currency.

Read moreChina Is Hoarding Gold Like A Dragon & Is Taking A Leap Forward To Control World Currency

Bundesbank: China’s Currency ‘On Its Way To Becoming Global Reserve Currency’

Bundesbank Warns China’s Currency “On Its Way To Becoming Global Reserve Currency” (ZeroHedge, July 6, 2013):

Following the most recent shift ‘away’ from a USD-centric world (with the China-Australia direct currency convertibility), it seems the possibility of China’s Yuan as the next global reserve currency is getting closer. The Brits, Germans, and now the Swiss (who just signed a free-trade-agreement with China) are all actively vying to become Europe’s Yuan trading hub as it seems the long line of developments to internationalize the currency over the past two years. As Bundesbank board member Joachim Nagel noted in a speech entitled “Reniminbi as a potential reserve currency” this week, “the Chinese currency is well on its way to becoming one of the future global reserve currencies.” He noted that, although the USD is still the most commonly-used currency for settling trade with China; from virtually zero in 2010, the Yuan is used to settle over 12% of trading transactions now – and is likley to increase further.

Remember, nothing lasts forever:

Read moreBundesbank: China’s Currency ‘On Its Way To Becoming Global Reserve Currency’

Does China Plan To Back The Yuan With Gold And Make It The Primary Global Reserve Currency?

Does China Plan To Back The Yuan With Gold And Make It The Primary Global Reserve Currency? (Economic Collapse June 4, 2013):

What in the world is China up to?  Why are the Chinese hoarding so much gold?  Does China plan to back the yuan with gold and turn it into a global reserve currency?  Could it be possible that China actually intends for the yuan to eventually replace the U.S. dollar as the primary reserve currency of the planet?  Most people in the western world assume that China just wants a “seat at the table” and is content to let the United States run the show.  But that isn’t the case at all.  The truth is that China doesn’t just want to compete with the United States.  Rather, China actually plans to replace the United States as the dominant economic power on the planet.  In fact, China already accounts for more global trade than the United States does.  So what would happen one day if China announced that it was backing the yuan with gold and that it would no longer be using the U.S. dollar in international trade?  It would cause a financial shift so cataclysmic that it is hard to even imagine.  Most of those that write about the “death of the U.S. dollar” usually fail to point out that China is holding a lot of the cards as far as the fate of the dollar is concerned.  China owns about a trillion dollars of our debt, China is the second largest economy on the planet, and nobody uses the dollar in international trade more than China does except for the United States.  Up until now, China has had to use the U.S. dollar in international trade because there has not been an attractive alternative.  But a gold-backed yuan would change all of that very rapidly.

And without a doubt, the Chinese government has already been very busy promoting the use of the yuan in international trade.  In a recent note, John McCormick of RBS Group stated the following…

Financial crises in the US and Europe mean the world needs a new, more stable global reserve currency, and trade in RMB is growing rapidly. In the FX market, for example, our figures show that volumes are now worth around USD 5-6 billion daily – double what they were a year ago.

A number of factors suggest that the Chinese authorities want to make RMB internationalisation happen by 2015.

For China, having a global reserve currency is not just about economics.  It is also about power.

McCormick ended his recent note this way…

Read moreDoes China Plan To Back The Yuan With Gold And Make It The Primary Global Reserve Currency?

China Takes Another Stab At The Dollar, Launches Currency Swap Line With France

China Takes Another Stab At The Dollar, Launches Currency Swap Line With France (ZeroHedge, April 13, 2013):

One more domino in the dollar reserve supremacy regime falls. Following the announcement two weeks ago that Australia And China will Enable Direct Currency Convertibility, which in turn was the culmination of two years of Yuan internationalization efforts as summarized by the following: “World’s Second (China) And Third Largest (Japan) Economies To Bypass Dollar, Engage In Direct Currency Trade“, “China, Russia Drop Dollar In Bilateral Trade“, “China And Iran To Bypass Dollar, Plan Oil Barter System“, “India and Japan sign new $15bn currency swap agreement“, “Iran, Russia Replace Dollar With Rial, Ruble in Trade, Fars Says“, “India Joins Asian Dollar Exclusion Zone, Will Transact With Iran In Rupees“, and “The USD Trap Is Closing: Dollar Exclusion Zone Crosses The Pacific As Brazil Signs China Currency Swap, China has now launched yet another feeler to see what the apetite toward its currency is, this time in the heart of the Eurozone: Paris. According to China Daily, as reported by Reuters, “France intends to set up a currency swap line with China to make Paris a major offshore yuan trading hub in Europe, competing against London.” As a reminder the BOE and the PBOC announced a currency swap line back in February, in effect linking up the CNY to the GBP. Now it is the EUR’s turn.

More on this curious move by the Bank of France and the PBOC from Reuters:

Read moreChina Takes Another Stab At The Dollar, Launches Currency Swap Line With France

PM Julia Gillard Set To Sign China Currency Deal Enabling The Australian Dollar To Be Converted Directly Into Chinese Yuan

PM set to sign China currency deal in boost to exporters (The Australian, March 30, 2013):

A CURRENCY deal enabling the Australian dollar to be converted directly into Chinese yuan, slashing costs for thousands of businesses, is set to be the centrepiece of Julia Gillard’s mission to China next weekend.

Australia would become the third country, after the US and Japan, to secure such an arrangement from China, which is Australia’s top trading partner, with exports and imports totalling $120 billion last financial year.

At present, companies doing business with China must pay the added cost of converting their Australian dollars into US dollars or yen, and then into yuan.

Read morePM Julia Gillard Set To Sign China Currency Deal Enabling The Australian Dollar To Be Converted Directly Into Chinese Yuan