AbstractThe present paper evaluates the international status of the Chinese currency, the renminbi (RMB), by examining its use in the global market. Specifically, the discussion focuses on the recent developments of RMB trading in the global foreign exchange market, cross‐border trade settlement in RMB, the Hong Kong offshore market and China's policies relating to the RMB. The evidence suggests that the use of the RMB overseas, especially in trade financing and in the off‐shore market, has increased rapidly in recent years. However, compared with the size of the Chinese economy, the current scale of the use of the RMB is quite small. Although the RMB has great potential to become an international currency, its acceptance in the global economy is affected by both economic and political factors. Attaining a fully fledged international RMB is still a distant goal.