China's RMB Push in the Gulf: Currency Swaps, CIPS, and mBridge Reshape BRI Financial Architecture

人民币挺进海湾：货币互换+CIPS+mBridge重塑"一带一路"金融底层

China has established financial settlement arrangements with all six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members and signed currency swap agreements with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar, according to a Carnegie Endowment analysis published in late July 2026, as Beijing accelerates efforts to internationalize the renminbi (RMB) through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) financial infrastructure.

据卡内基国际和平基金会2026年7月底发布的分析报告，中国已与海湾合作委员会（GCC）全部六个成员国建立金融结算安排，并与沙特、阿联酋和卡塔尔签署了货币互换协议。北京正通过"一带一路"金融基础设施，加速人民币（RMB）国际化进程。

The UAE and Qatar now host official RMB clearing centers, while First Abu Dhabi Bank has become a direct participant in China's Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) — the official cross-border RMB payment infrastructure that handled 97.67 trillion yuan in cumulative goods trade settlement as of June 2026, up from 93.58 trillion yuan in March 2026, according to CEIC data.

阿联酋和卡塔尔现设有官方人民币清算中心，第一阿布扎比银行已成为中国跨境银行间支付系统（CIPS）的直接参与者。据CEIC数据，截至2026年6月，CIPS货物贸易人民币跨境结算累计达97.67万亿元，较2026年3月的93.58万亿元进一步增长。

The shift gained symbolic weight in November 2024 when the UAE executed a 50 million dirham direct transfer to China using dirhams and renminbi, bypassing US dollars entirely, with the ceremony attended by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Vice President and Central Bank Chairman. In 2023, China also completed its first LNG purchase from the UAE settled in RMB — a milestone toward what analysts have termed a potential "petroyuan" challenge to the decades-old petrodollar system.

这一转变的象征意义在2024年11月凸显：阿联酋完成了一笔5000万迪拉姆对华直接转账，使用迪拉姆和人民币、完全绕开美元，阿联酋副总统兼央行行长曼苏尔亲王出席了仪式。2023年，中国还完成了首单以人民币结算的阿联酋液化天然气采购——分析人士称之为对已持续数十年的石油美元体系的"石油人民币"潜在挑战。

On the technology front, China is preparing to launch mBridge, a blockchain-based wholesale CBDC platform backed by the central banks of China, Hong Kong, Thailand, and the UAE, with operations to be overseen by a Hong Kong-based entity, the Financial Times reported on August 3, 2026. Industrial Bank (兴业银行) recently launched mBridge payment services for cross-border transactions with Macau, and now supports mBridge settlements between the Chinese mainland and both Hong Kong and Macau, according to the South China Morning Post. The platform represents a direct alternative to the SWIFT messaging network, offering faster settlement at lower cost.

在技术层面，据《金融时报》2026年8月3日报道，中国正准备推出mBridge——一个基于区块链的批发型央行数字货币（CBDC）平台，由中国大陆、香港、泰国和阿联酋央行共同支持，由香港实体负责运营。《南华早报》报道，兴业银行近期已开通面向澳门的mBridge跨境支付服务，并支持大陆与香港、澳门之间的mBridge结算。该平台是SWIFT报文网络的直接替代方案，提供更快、成本更低的跨境结算。

The energy dimension remains crucial: China has been the world's largest crude oil importer since 2017 and largest LNG importer since 2021, while Gulf economies remain heavily dependent on energy exports to Asian markets. Since launching RMB-denominated crude oil futures on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange in 2018, Beijing has steadily expanded its currency's role in energy trade, with GCC participation in the mBridge CBDC platform described by analysts as "strategically crucial" for the potential expansion of petro-RMB.

能源维度仍然是关键：中国自2017年起成为全球最大原油进口国，自2021年起成为最大LNG进口国，而海湾经济严重依赖对亚洲市场的能源出口。自2018年在上海国际能源交易中心推出人民币计价的原油期货合约以来，北京稳步扩大人民币在能源贸易中的作用。分析人士称，GCC参与mBridge CBDC平台对石油人民币的潜在扩展"具有战略关键意义"。

However, structural constraints persist. Most Gulf currencies — with the exception of the Kuwaiti dinar — remain pegged to the US dollar, limiting the incentive to re-denominate energy exports. The renminbi also remains subject to capital controls, and its offshore market, while growing, lacks the depth and liquidity of dollar-denominated markets. As the Intel Drop observed, "the success of this architecture ultimately depends on the willingness of companies and investors to use the renminbi more widely, not just on the existence of financial systems."

然而，结构性制约依然存在。除科威特第纳尔外，大多数海湾国家货币仍与美元挂钩，这限制了能源出口改以人民币定价的动机。人民币仍受资本管制约束，其离岸市场虽在增长，但缺乏美元市场的深度与流动性。正如The Intel Drop分析所指出："这一架构的成功，最终取决于企业和投资者是否愿意更广泛地使用人民币，而不仅仅是金融系统的存在。"