China is the world’s largest trader and (on a purchasing power parity basis) is about to surpass the United States as the world’s largest economy. China already accounts for about 10% of global trade in goods and services, and over 15% of global economic activity.

So, as China takes its place as the biggest economy on the globe, will its currency, the renminbi (RMB), become the most widely used international currency as well? Will the RMB supplant the U.S. dollar as the leading reserve currency held by central bankers and others, or as the safe-haven currency in financial crises?