Andy Mukherjee: Washington is fretting over China while Wall Street is embracing the yuan
Mint · mint ·
Although the yuan is nowhere near challenging the greenback, the search for an alternative to the dollar is real. The irony is that it’s America’s megabanks that are helping Beijing turn the yuan into a viable funding currency.
It was a hamburger giant that introduced corporate America to dim sum—not the dumplings, but the offshore yuan debt commonly known by that name. And now, after two turbulent eras and multiple rebirths, it’s Wall Street’s turn to tap the market in Hong Kong, though for reasons very different from when McDonald’s sold these bonds 16 years ago.
The world’s systemically important banks have raised 134 billion yuan ($20 billion) in dim-sum bonds so far this year, nearly triple their total for all of 2025. Citigroup, Barclays and BNP Paribas are the biggest issuers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Wells Fargo has seen its issuance jump more than tenfold, while Goldman Sachs has roughly tripled its volume.
Consider how improbable this looks geopolitically. Globalization is supposedly in retreat. The US and China are locked in strategic competition over everything from artificial intelligence (AI) to the future of the global monetary system.