- by Shane Cowl
- The Guardian
- Issue #2157
Image: KeldBach – deviantart.com (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)
Behind closed doors in Beijing, a quiet financial transformation is unfolding. China, the undisputed heavyweight of the BRICS alliance, is engineering an audacious challenge to the US-led global financial order. The goal? To dismantle the Petrodollar’s dominance, neutralise Western sanctions, and rewrite the rules of global trade – all through BRICS unity.
This is a lot more than just economic competition. China is winning against two instruments of US power.
The SWIFT System is America’s financial weapon. For decades, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) has been the backbone of global finance, enabling seamless cross-border transactions. It has also served as a tool of US coercion. When Washington wants to isolate a nation such as Iran, Russia, or Venezuela, for example – it simply cuts them off from SWIFT, crippling their economies overnight.
China has taken note. It refuses to be next.
The Petrodollar system was built for US supremacy. Born from a secret 1974 deal between the USA and Saudi Arabia, it ensures that oil is traded exclusively in dollars. This guarantees global demand for the greenback, allowing America to print money without consequence and enforce its geopolitical will.
But China, the world’s largest oil importer, is no longer willing to play by these rules.
BRICS COUNTERSTRIKE
While BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and others) presents itself as a collective, Beijing is the undisputed architect of its financial rebellion. Key moves include:
The Yuan-Petrodollar Endgame
In 2023, China convinced Saudi Arabia to accept yuan for oil deals – a direct assault on the Petrodollar.
Russia, already under Western sanctions, now sells 90% of its oil and gas in yuan or rubles.
India, despite US pressure, has begun settling Russian oil purchases in yuan.
The New Development Bank (NDB):
It’s a multilateral lender, but the NDB is de facto controlled by Beijing, with China holding the largest voting share. The bank funds infrastructure projects across the Global South.
Digital Yuan: The ultimate sanctions-buster
China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) is already being used in cross-border BRICS trade.
Unlike SWIFT, digital yuan transactions bypass US oversight entirely.
While BRICS has yet to officially announce a SWIFT alternative, China’s Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) is already operational. Launched in 2015, CIPS processes yuan-denominated transactions, offering a sanctions-proof alternative for nations wary of US financial surveillance. It’s often overlooked in Western media.
Sources within the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) confirm that CIPS is being quietly expanded to accommodate BRICS members, with plans to integrate Russia’s SPFS and India’s UPI in the coming years.
Why quietly. Why so many details not discussed? The answer is simple, the possibility of US sabotage.
A former PBOC official, speaking anonymously, claimed that the moment BRICS announces a functional SWIFT alternative, the US will act. They’ve done it before – look at Huawei. “We’re building silently until the system is too big to fail.”
Washington is already reacting. In 2024, the US Treasury blacklisted several Chinese banks for facilitating sanctions evasion. Meanwhile, SWIFT has rolled out upgrades to retain its monopoly.
The stakes are high for the BRICS nations. A future in which the US doesn’t hold the whip hand beckons. If China succeeds the Petrodollar crumbles; Oil traded in yuan weakens dollar demand, threatening US economic supremacy. Sanctions will lose their bite as nations like Iran and Russia escape US financial blockades.
A new financial order is emerging in which Washington doesn’t set the rules.
Failure means isolation – a fate China is determined to avoid.
This is not just about BRICS; This is about China’s rise as a new and very different financial superpower. While the West remains fixated on military conflicts, Beijing is waging a bloodless revolution – one transaction at a time.
The question is no longer if the US dollar will be dethroned, but when.
