American Investment in Chinese Renminbi

This paper uses microdata on US mutual fund and ETF portfolios from SEC Form N-PORT to study American investment in Chinese Renminbi (RMB)–denominated bonds. We show that, even as total foreign holdings of Chinese bonds rebounded in 2024, US holdings of RMB bonds fell sharply and that most of this decline reflects funds exiting RMB positions entirely. These patterns point to a shift in the composition of China’s foreign investor base away from US institutional investors and illustrate how publicly available microdata can inform work on the geopolitics of international currency use.