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Brazilian SMEs Access Yuan Transactions in 2025 via Fintechs and Chinese Banks; Advancement Reduces Exchange Costs but Increases Dependence on Beijing.
Until 2020, trading with China was an almost insurmountable challenge for Brazilian small and medium-sized enterprises. In addition to language barriers and distance, there was the weight of the dollar as the mandatory currency in any contract. This meant facing high spreads, elevated banking fees, and exchange rate fluctuations that, in many cases, made smaller deals unviable. But in 2025, this scenario began to change radically. SMEs – Brazilian small and medium enterprises can now access direct transactions in yuan, the Chinese currency, without relying on dollar triangulation.
This innovation was made possible thanks to two vectors: the advancement of digital exchange fintechs in Brazil and the expansion of operations by Chinese banks like ICBC and Bank of China in the national territory.
This change represents a historic leap: the yuan has ceased to be an exclusive currency for billion-dollar contracts in agribusiness and mining and has become part of the daily routine of smaller companies, which handle smaller-scale imports and exports.
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How This Change Was Built
The path to this point has been gradual:
- 2023: Brazil inaugurated the yuan clearing system, with operations mediated by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). This opened the door for direct BRL–CNY settlements.
- 2024: Fintechs like Ebury and local digital banks began offering BRL–CNY exchange for medium-sized companies, especially importers of electronics, machinery, and agricultural inputs.
- 2025: The service reached SMEs. Today, small industries, agricultural cooperatives, and even e-commerce platforms can now close contracts in yuan, both for imports and exports.
This democratization places Brazil among the first countries in Latin America to allow companies of all sizes to access the yuan as an instrument for international trade.
The Financial Impact for SMEs
The benefit is immediate. An SME that imports US$ 500,000 in industrial parts from China could lose up to 5% of the total value just in exchange costs when going through the dollar. This amounts to R$ 130,000 in a single transaction.
With direct settlement in yuan, this cost drops to less than half. Moreover, predictability increases: as Brazil already has a currency swap of R$ 157 billion with China, there is guaranteed liquidity to cover operations in RMB.
Exporters also benefit. A producer of specialty coffee or niche honey, who sends small batches to the Chinese market, can now receive in yuan without needing to open a dollar account abroad. The result is increased competitiveness and higher margins.
Fintechs and Banks: The New Intermediaries
The role of fintechs is central. Digital platforms offer multi-currency accounts, integration with Chinese marketplaces, and instant BRL–CNY conversions. This enables even small Brazilian online stores to sell directly in yuan to Chinese consumers.
At the same time, Chinese banks are expanding their presence in São Paulo, Rio, and Brasília. ICBC and Bank of China offer credit in yuan for importers, along with trade finance operations in Chinese currency.
Beijing sees this not just as business, but as a long-term strategy to consolidate the yuan as a reference currency in international trade.
Agribusiness and Cooperatives
The agribusiness sector also feels the effects. Medium-sized corn, soybean, and coffee cooperatives are already testing contracts in yuan with Chinese buyers.
Previously, these producers were at the mercy of global trading companies that mediated sales in dollars. Now, they can negotiate directly with Chinese clients, reducing costs and gaining prominence.
This means that even rural areas of Brazil are impacted by the rise of the yuan. Municipalities in Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais, and Paraná are already reporting direct operations in Chinese currency, especially in coffee and corn.
The Washington Alert
The yuan’s advance among SMEs may seem irrelevant globally — after all, the values are smaller than those of mining or oil contracts. But in Washington, the alarm has already been sounded.
The risk is not in the size of each operation, but in the cumulative effect. If millions of small businesses in emerging countries start trading in yuan, it represents billions of dollars less circulating in the American financial system. It is a slow erosion, but potentially irreversible to dollar hegemony.
The Risks of New Dependency
Despite the gains, there are pitfalls. The yuan is still not fully convertible and its use depends on approvals from the People’s Bank of China. This means that in times of crisis, Beijing could restrict the flow of its currency.
For Brazilian SMEs, this risk may seem distant, but it should not be ignored. By swapping the dollar for the yuan, Brazil might just be replacing one dependency with another, less transparent and more subject to political decisions.
The Role of BRICS
This movement is also connected to the BRICS agenda. In 2025, the expanded bloc will discuss the creation of BRICS Pay, a multi-local payment platform. The yuan is the natural candidate to lead this system, but Brazil and South Africa advocate for a multi-currency model.
In any case, the fact that small Brazilian companies are already operating in yuan shows that the financial integration of the bloc is not restricted to large contracts, but reaches the productive base of the economy.
The Future of Foreign Trade
If the trend continues, experts believe that by 2030 more than 60% of Brazil-China transactions could be settled in yuan, including contracts from small businesses. This would change the logic of Brazilian foreign trade and could make the country the first major agricultural and industrial exporter from the West to adopt the Chinese currency on a large scale.
The challenge will be to balance benefits and risks, ensuring that the yuan is an advantageous alternative without becoming a new trap of dependency.
In 2025, Brazilian SMEs finally gained access to the yuan. It is a victory for local businesses, which can now compete on equal footing in trade with China. But it is also a warning: each contract in yuan is one less brick in the edifice of dollar hegemony — and one more brick in Beijing’s financial influence.
The question is whether Brazil will use this tool to gain strategic autonomy or end up hostage to the currency of its largest customer.
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