The U.S. dollar has dominated as the world’s reserve currency for so long that some experts feel that it may never be challenged. Other world powers like China and Russia, however, have not let that dissuade them from enacting policies to do just that.

Most recently, according to a report from ZeroHedge.com, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has announced plans to start yuan-denominated gold and oil futures trading. According to Guo Jianwei, deputy director of the second monetary policy department of the PBOC, the goal is to establish a global payment system for the Chinese currency (also known as renminbi).

Guo Jianwei, cited by the Shanghai Securities News, has said, “At the end of last year, China’s total with 23 foreign central banks or monetary authorities signed bilateral currency swap agreements, the total size of more than 2.5 trillion yuan…It is noteworthy that, in addition to London, Paris, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Singapore, striving for offshore yuan trading center with only the United States sitting on the sidelines.”

ZeroHedge.com feels that the goal of these agreements is clear and Mr. Jianwei’s comments are certainly revealing:

“The central bank will continue to advance the future of interest rates, exchange rate reform, and capital projects to promote the yuan-denominated policies, thereby establishing renminbi the global payment system and so on.”