US Wall Street banks led by Goldman Sachs have borrowed record amounts of Chinese renminbi this year through what are known as dim sum bonds — debt issued outside mainland China, mostly in Hong Kong, and denominated in the Chinese currency. Total issuance has hit 300 billion renminbi ($44 billion) so far this year, more than double the amount at the same point in 2025, which was itself a record year.
Goldman has emerged as the largest foreign issuer of dim sum bonds and the second-largest overall, behind only the state-owned Bank of China. The firm has borrowed 32.1 billion renminbi through these bonds this year — roughly 10% of the entire market. US banks collectively have issued 47.5 billion renminbi in self-led deals, also a record. “There’s so much demand for offshore renminbi assets,” said Isaac Wong, Goldman’s head of fixed income, currencies and commodities for Asia. “It provides an attractive alternative source of funding for the firm.”
The borrowers tapping this market are not just Wall Street banks. Portugal, Finland’s public credit institution MuniFin, the Korea Development Bank, the Nordic Investment Bank, the Swedish Export Credit Corporation, and the Indonesian government have all issued renminbi-denominated debt this year. “There’s a borrowing frenzy right now in offshore renminbi,” said John Woods, chief investment officer for Asia at Lombard Odier. “You’ve got everyone from the Indonesian government to Morgan Stanley issuing debt.”
Beijing Is Deliberately Opening the Taps
The surge is not purely market-driven. Beijing has been systematically making it easier for mainland Chinese investors — who are sitting on large pools of capital and facing low yields at home — to buy bonds issued in Hong Kong, where yields are higher than on the mainland but still lower than in most other global markets. That combination creates a ready pool of demand that foreign borrowers are moving quickly to meet.
Last year, Beijing significantly expanded access to its Bond Connect programme, which allows mainland investors to buy fixed-income products in Hong Kong, opening it for the first time to insurers and other non-bank financial institutions. At last month’s China Development Forum, central bank governor Pan Gongsheng reinforced the direction of travel, promising further steps to develop the offshore renminbi market as part of a broader push to internationalise the currency.
The Dollar’s Quiet Competition Just Got Louder
For anyone watching the long-term question of whether the US dollar can maintain its dominance as the world’s reserve currency, this is a data point worth taking seriously. The renminbi has been edging toward greater global use for years, but progress has been slow and often overstated. What is happening in the dim sum bond market right now is different. It is Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and a string of European sovereign borrowers choosing renminbi debt because the economics make sense.
When Wall Street’s largest banks become major issuers in your currency’s offshore market, it signals that the renminbi is crossing from a geopolitical project into a genuine financial instrument with real utility. The Iran war has accelerated de-dollarisation discussions across emerging markets, and Beijing’s careful, policy-driven expansion of renminbi access is positioning China to absorb that shift. The dim sum bond market may not be where dollar dominance ends — but it is increasingly where renminbi credibility is being built, one record issuance at a time.
