Jakarta. Indonesia’s renminbi clearing bank will likely go live by the fourth quarter of 2026, according to the central bank, as the de-dollarization trend picks up speed.

About two months ago, Bank Indonesia (BI) and the People's Bank of China (PBOC) unveiled a deal on establishing a clearing bank for the Chinese currency. BI deputy governor Thomas Djiwandono said Wednesday that work was already underway to set the plan in motion.

“We expect to see the renminbi clearing bank be operational no later than Q4 2026,” Thomas told a virtual presser on Wednesday.

PBOC will appoint the clearing bank, according to a recently published BI regulation. The document also requires the clearing bank to earn BI’s recommendation. PBOC has picked the Jakarta branch of the state-owned Bank of China. Thomas revealed that an unnamed Indonesian state-run bank is currently taking care of the administrative process to also be able to provide similar facilities. He added: “This way, we [Indonesia] can have two renminbi clearing banks”.

To the same presser, BI acting governor Destry Damayanti found the move to be necessary following rising Indonesia-China commerce, as many businesses do their deals in local currencies.

“All this time, they would buy dollars before having to convert them into renminbi. This sometimes takes place in offshore markets,” Destry said.

“We would like to streamline the process by increasing our domestic renminbi supplies. So they don’t need to buy dollars first, as they can immediately transact in renminbi.”

This is expected to also ease the greenback pressure. The rupiah closed at Rp 17,840 per dollar on Wednesday. The Indonesian currency has traded under severe strain over the past few months, even weakening beyond the Rp 18,000 per-dollar mark.

As of July, the domestic renminbi demand is equal to around $38.9 billion, already close to BI’s internal estimates of $40 billion annually. Businesses from both countries can settle their export-import payments in their respective local currencies. 

Ahead of the clearing bank, Indonesia’s overall trade with mainland China already rose around 19% year-on-year to $84 billion in the first half of 2026. Trade with Hong Kong reached $2.7 billion over the same period, government data showed.

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