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International Fund Clearing System (SWIFT)
SWIFT is the abbreviation of the international fund clearing system. It is managed by the Global Interbank Financial Telecommunications Association. The use of SWIFT enables the bank's settlement to provide safe, reliable, fast, standardized and automated communication services, thus It greatly improves the settlement speed of banks. Since the SWIFT format is standardized, the format of letter of credit mainly uses SWIFT messages. A SWIFT letter of credit refers to a letter of credit issued or notified through the SWIFT system. In international trade settlement, SWIFT letter of credit is a formal and legal letter of credit accepted by the parties to the letter of credit and is internationally universal.
Due to the increasing frequency of economic activities between international banks and the increasing number of accounts, traditional manual processing methods cannot meet the requirements of customers. In order to adapt to the ever-changing market development, customers require transfer and settlement in a country or even around the world. The liquidation of funds can be completed quickly. Therefore, since the late 1960s and early 1970s, seven European banks have planned to establish an international communication system to provide rapid delivery of international financial data and other information, and have begun to make feasible common international financial message exchange processing procedures Research. The research results show that an international financial processing system should be established that can correctly, safely, at low cost and quickly transmit standard international fund allocation information.
Use SWIFT letters of credit must comply with the SWIFT regulations, and must also use the code (Tag) specified in the SWIFT manual, and the letter of credit must comply with the provisions of the "Uniform Practice of Documentary Letter of Credit" revised by International Chamber of Commerce in 2007. In SWIFT letter of credit, the Undertaking clause of the issuing bank (Undertaking Clause) can be eliminated, but the bank will not be exempted from its obligations. SWIFT letters of credit are characterized by speed, accuracy, conciseness and reliability.
The United States repeatedly threatened to cut off Russia's SWIFT system. As the Ukrainian War broke out, the United States and some Western countries finally excluded some Russian commercial banks from SWIFT. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Bank of China, as members of the SWIFT system, had to stop issuing US dollar letters of credit for purchasing Russian products in accordance with US sanctions. This is a concrete manifestation of US financial hegemony. For Russia, the sanctions imposed by the United States and other Western countries are only symbolic, but for China, a world trading power, if the SWIFT system is cut off, it will face huge losses. Because of this, China must accelerate the construction of cross-border interbank payment and settlement systems and strive to get rid of its dependence on the SWIFT system as soon as possible.
In May 1973, 239 banks from 15 countries in the United States, Canada and Europe announced the formal establishment of SWIFT, which is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, . It is to solve the inability of financial communications from various countries to adapt to the rapid growth of international payment clearing. The non-profit organization established is responsible for designing, establishing and managing the SWIFT international network to transmit and determine routing of international financial information among the members of the organization. Since 1974, computer network system was designed. In the summer of 1977, the construction and development of the Global Interbank Financial Telecommunications Network (SWIFT Network) system was completed and officially put into operation.
After the establishment of the organization, the number of its member banks has increased rapidly year by year. Since 1987, non-bank financial institutions, including brokers, investment companies , securities companies and stock exchanges, have begun to use SWIFT. The network has been spread across more than 8,000 financial institutions in 206 countries and regions around the world, providing The financial industry's secure message transmission service and related interface software support the real-time payment and clearing system in more than 80 countries and regions. In 1980, SWIFT was connected to Hong Kong. my country's Bank of China joined SWIFT in 1983, and is the 1034th member bank of the SWIFT organization. It was officially opened and used in May 1985, becoming an important milestone in the alignment of my country with international financial standards. Afterwards, my country's state-owned commercial banks and stock exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen also joined SWIFT one after another.
After entering the 1990s, except for state-owned commercial banks , all foreign and overseas banks and local banks in China that can handle international banking business have joined SWIFT. The use of SWIFT has also been gradually expanded from the headline to the branch. In 1995, SWIFT established SWIFT access point SAP (SWIFT Access Point) in the Beijing Telegram Building and the Shanghai Long Talk Building. They are connected to the main nodes of the SWIFT regional processing centers in Singapore and Hong Kong, providing users with automatic routing and selection of . In order to better serve users in the Asia-Pacific region, SWIFT established a third support center in Hong Kong in 1994, besides the United States and the Netherlands , so that Chinese users can receive technical services from Chinese-speaking employees of the SWIFT Support Center. . SWIFT also has offices in 17 locations around the world, with 2,000 professionals from 55 countries, of which Beijing Office was established in 1999.
All over the world financial data transmission, file transfer, direct-through processing STP (straight through process), matchmaking, clearing and net payment services, operation information services, software services, certification technical services, customer training and 24-hour technical support. Since its inception,
SWIFT and China's capital clearing system
SWIFT have been promoting the development of world trade, accelerating the global currency circulation and international financial settlement, and promoting the modernization of international financial business with its efficient, reliable, low-cost and complete services. Standardization has played a positive role. my country's Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China , Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications, CITIC Industrial Bank, etc. have become members of the Global Banking Financial Communication Association. This is why PP only supports wire transfers to these domestic banks. The design capability of
SWIFT is to transmit 11 million messages per day, and currently transmit 5 million messages per day. The funds allocated to these messages are in trillions of dollars, and it relies on more than 240 message standards it provides. SWIFT's standard message format has become the standard language for international interbank data exchange. The code used to distinguish each bank is "SWIFT Code". Relying on SWIFT Code, the corresponding funds will be accurately transferred to the designated bank.
SWIFT Code is a bank identification code proposed by the association and passed by ISO. Its original name is BIC (Bank Indentifier Code), but the meaning of the name BIC is too broad. I am worried that some people will understand it as another bank identification code system, so gradually everyone agreed to be a commonplace. BIC is called SWIFT Code.
February 26, 2022, the White House issued a statement saying that in response to Russia's military action in Ukraine, the leaders of the United States and the European Commission , Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Canada decided to exclude some Russian banks from Global Banking Finance and Telecommunications Association (SWIFT) payment system and imposes restrictions on the Russian central bank in case its deployment of international reserve weakens the impact of sanctions. This move marks a step that Western countries have stepped up sanctions against Russia Strength aims to combat the Russian economy. On March 2, 2022, Russian News Agency reported that EU decided to exclude seven Russian banks from the Global Interbank Financial Communications Association (SWIFT) payment system.
On March 2, 2022 local time, the EU issued a statement announcing new sanctions on Russia, agreeing to exclude seven Russian banks from the payment system of "SWIFT", that is, the "Global Banking Financial Telecommunications Association". In fact, the Russian government has long regarded the separation from the SWIFT system as a hypothesis and conducted research and analysis of its different scenarios. Alternatives include the Russian Central Bank's Financial Information Transmission System (SPFS). According to a report released by the Russian Satellite News Agency in May last year, the report released by the Russian Central Bank stated: "The use of SPFS in 2020 has increased by 1 times compared with the previous year, and the proportion of domestic users using it has reached 20.6%."
Hong Kong has prepared for the possibility of being kicked out of SWIFT in the future. Once Hong Kong is kicked out of SWIFT, the Pearl River Delta will collapse soon. What else does the Chinese economy have to leave , the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta? Everyone knows this , but doing so at present is no longer a big deal. Anyway, it is to protect the economy now, and all this will happen in the near future. It is better to simply use one kill two birds with one stone to eliminate the sudden collapse caused by external reasons. The big crisis. On May 5, Hong Kong Monetary Authority President Yu Weiwen attended the Legislative Council briefing on the work priorities, explaining the impact of the international situation on Hong Kong finance, and pointing out that the HKMA and the banking industry have drafted plans with the banking industry for different situations. These include assets being frozen or removed from SWIFT.
freezes assets and kicks out SWIFT ( Global Banking and Financial Telecommunications Association ), which is the "nuclear weapon" of Western countries to impose economic sanctions on Russia . Freezing assets is equivalent to a court Freezing your personal bank deposits will make you work in vain for life; kicking out SWIFT is equivalent to your bank card not having payment function and becoming a scrap card, you can only use cash and gold.
Now, the Hong Kong government is preparing for the future , worry that such sanctions will happen to Hong Kong. Many people may think that the Hong Kong government is making a big fuss and making a big deal, but as a financial center with highly developed information, Hong Kong's worries are by no means groundless.
Because, the mainland is also worried. During the May Day holiday, the domestic There is a report circulating in a small area: On the evening of April 21, the China Financial Forum 40 (CF40) held the 146th Youth Forum biweekly internal seminar, with the theme of the meeting: "How to protect China under the new situation Overseas assets security”. Participants include Central Bank , Foreign Exchange Administration , CSRC and , as well as leaders of dozens of domestic financial institutions, as well as international financial institutions in China Experts.
discussed at the meeting, what measures can be taken to circumvent or reduce losses if the United States copies sanctions against Russia to China? Is China's banking system ready to be frozen or excluded from the SWIFT system? ?
SWIFT replacement plan in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war
However, in essence, SWIFT is not a cross-border international payment system, but a communication organization. Russia and China are working hard to establish a direct within the framework of the financial message transmission system of the two countries Communications to bypass the Global Interbank Financial Communications Association (SWIFT) system. Digital rubles , digital renminbi and using these two currencies to ensure economic circulation services are recent events, faster than expected a few months ago.
Faced with the current turbulent international situation, BRICS countries should play the role of BRICS as a weather vane, stabilizer and source of growth, strengthen cooperation in various fields, and at the same time be cautious about Western sanctions, consider introducing alternative solutions for the SWIFT system in a timely manner to promote The local currency settlement of trade in BRICS countries, regionalization and internationalization of local currencies, reduce their dependence on the US dollar. There are many areas of cooperation among BRICS countries, but it is not welcomed by peripheral forces. As Russia is currently subject to joint sanctions from the United States and Europe, and against possible extensions of the United States, the BRICS countries need to be cautious about Western sanctions and consider introducing alternatives to the SWIFT system in a timely manner.
As Russia is currently subject to joint sanctions from the United States and Europe, the BRICS countries need to show courage, wisdom and courage against the possible extension of the United States. Western sanctions need to be cautious and introduce their own alternatives to keep losses and uncertainties within a minimum range. When the United States and Europe impose sanctions on Russia, we must neither ignore the US financial sanctions, resulting in unnecessary losses, nor have we no sense of sanctions on the US and Europe, nor can we give up cooperation with Russia just because of the US and Europe sanctions, but we must Strengthen cooperation between BRICS countries and hedge against US-EU sanctions, including finding various alternatives.
BRICS countries have many areas of cooperation, which is not welcomed by peripheral forces, including the game of great powers behind the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Faced with the differentiation and slandering the BRICS cooperation, this requires the BRICS countries to show greater courage, wisdom and determination to adopt different strategies for different events.
needs to communicate through SWIFT before conducting payment, and payment and clearing are based on currency to follow the systems of various countries. CIPS is a system for cross-border payment, settlement and clearing of RMB. It incorporates some communication functions into the system, but it is not used much. Digital RMB is designed for retail. It is not ruled out that the digital RMB may have the prospect of cross-border payment in the future, but it is expected to focus on cross-border retail applications.
SWIFT can play a big role in trade. Before payment, many trade information problems need to be solved through communication, including contracts, warehousing, transportation, specifications and varieties, quality compliance, etc.; for finance, there are payment instructions, guarantee letters, guarantee letters, trade financing, factoring, etc. SWIFT is not irreplaceable, but there are many things to do instead of SWIFT and may affect trade before and during the transition period. Avoiding SWIFT is theoretically feasible. Because its basis is trade, if it really doesn't work, barter and barter trade . But if there is a difference in barter trade, currency is still needed. In the past, this difference might have been the difference in bookkeeping trade, such as the difference between China and some countries is recorded in Swiss francs .
The Russian-Ukrainian conflict Sino-US and the West jointly imposes sanctions on Russia. India may be swept by the United States' Indo-Pacific strategy , and hedges against the centripetal force of the BRICS countries and the position of cooperation between BRICS countries. As a result, the United States and the West will differentiate the cooperation between the rising BRICS countries, making the BRICS countries fragmented and faded. But it is precisely because of the charm of the BRICS countries that the BRICS countries and the BRICS+ mechanism have also made the BRICS countries' institutionalized cooperation attractive and influential, such as the first bank of BRICS Bank As long as Indians were held, India became more active.
BRICS countries still have great potential in the fields of financial cooperation, economic and trade cooperation, digital economy cooperation, scientific and technological cooperation, etc. We should consider introducing alternative systems in a timely manner, work together to find alternative solutions, find alternative solutions to the SWIFT system, strengthen various cooperation between BRICS countries, and promote local currency settlement, regionalization and internationalization of trade in BRICS countries, and issue Local currency bonds reduce dependence on the US dollar and enhance their ability to resist risks.
SWIFT has formed efficiency and market size. First, there are a large number of financial institutions participating; second, they have done a good job in confidentiality. If SWIFT is avoided and opened another channel, first, there must be a transition period. In the early stage, there may be fewer participating companies and many communications are difficult to achieve, which will affect trade efficiency; second, there are concerns about security.
International Fund Clearing System and Five Eyes Alliance
As an interbank information and settlement system, why can it have such a huge impact on a country's economy? The reason is very simple, not because the Global Banking Financial Telecommunications Association settlement system is lethal, but because the system uses a large amount of US dollar currency. Like SWIFT, the Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance is another more core circle with the United States as its leader.
The Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance has played every detail influencing common security interests and daily life. Positive influence. But at the same time, due to the inequality of internal power, alliances will also put pressure on member states to act together, forcing them to make decisions that are not in the national interest. The United States often uses its dominant position within the alliance to require members to follow Its own actions.
The origin of the "Five Eyes Alliance" can be traced back to the cooperation between Britain and the United States in communication and intelligence during World War II . In July 1940, British Ambassador to the United States Philip Kerr wrote to the US President , It is proposed that the two countries immediately initiate a secret technical intelligence exchange. Subsequently, the US President agreed to the proposal at the cabinet meeting.
However, in the early stages of cooperation, since the United States has not yet officially participated in the war and the overall intelligence and technology level is better than that of the United Kingdom, the two countries are in Cooperation at the execution level was not smooth. After the United States officially declared war in December 1941, its actual demand for intelligence cooperation with Britain was greatly enhanced. In order to strengthen the stability of intelligence cooperation between the two countries, the United States and Britain signed the first signal in June 1943. Intelligence Cooperation Agreement - "Agreement between the British Government Cryptographic School and the US Department of War on Specific "Special Intelligence".The main contents of the agreement include: sharing intercepted encrypted signal intelligence, setting up mutual intelligence liaison offices, the United States is responsible for monitoring Japan, and the United Kingdom is responsible for monitoring Germany and Italy.
In the technical intelligence cooperation during World War II, Britain and the United States had roughly equal status, while Canada, Australia and New Zealand , as the British autonomous gang, only played an auxiliary role and had no independent status in the intelligence agreement. The main opponents of the intelligence network at that time were the Axis Group, composed of Germany, Japan and Italy.
Outsiders often have this question: Why are Britain and the United States thousands of miles apart, rather than Britain and France that are close to each other? The answer is simple, that is, the common nation, common language, and common values make Britain and the United States unite and prosper together. Because the first thing that China, Japan and South Korea need to promote is the economic cooperation of , Northeast Asia, was first under the slander of the United States during the East Asian financial crisis, and it was unsuccessful. Later, the United States was involved in returning to Asia and the Asia-Pacific region. Now it is blocked by the new Cold War launched by Trump again.
The economy developed rapidly after the war, and Japan, which is also a maritime civilization but belongs to the East Asian ethnic group, once put forward this view with emotion. "UK, the United States, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand" is an alliance of countries on the surface, but in essence it is a country. . Judging from the international performance of the "Five Eyes Alliance", although they usually quarrel, they are often able to immediately coordinate and share the external challenges when facing challenges from non-Anglo-Saxon countries, which is simply like a country.
1944 Bretton Woods Conference established the international reserve currency and settlement currency status of the US dollar. Countries use US dollar settlement, and the US dollar is linked to gold, which is the infamous Bretton Woods system . In the 1970s, US President Nixon announced that he would no longer exchange gold, and the international financial crisis broke out. Some European countries believe that their own interests are damaged, so they decided to form their own monetary system. In order to consolidate the hegemony of the US dollar, the United States requires members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to sell oil and must use the US dollar to settle the oil. Since countries must use the US dollar to purchase oil, the US dollar remains the reserve currency and settlement currency of each country.
International trade is based on the US dollar currency. Therefore, although the settlement system of the Global Banking and Financial Communications Association, which is headquartered in Belgium, is only a technical settlement system, the United States can easily use the system to understand the trade situation of various countries and impose sanctions on some countries at any time. What is even more worrying is that major developed countries have complete control over the system. Therefore, once a country's commercial banks are excluded from the system, it will become very difficult for a commercial bank to engage in international fund settlement. For example, if a Russian bank is sanctioned, it is completely impossible for the bank to engage in cross-border settlement business unless it rebuilds the settlement system.
In fact, after the United States imposed financial sanctions on Iran, some European countries such as France and Germany have established similar settlement systems in order to continue to maintain trade relations with Iran. However, since the United States implements hegemony and implements " long-arm jurisdiction over " on some countries' enterprises, even if these countries do not use SWIFT, they will still be sanctioned by the United States. This is because the United States requires all commercial institutions to act in accordance with U.S. sanctions. If there is a trade relationship with Iran, the U.S. government will impose severe sanctions. It is not difficult to understand why a senior management of China's Huawei company signed a business contract with Iran in a branch in Hong Kong, and a senior management of China's Huawei company was notified by the United States to illegally detain it in Canada. It is precisely because of the hegemony of the United States that SWIFT, a technical settlement system, has become the deadlock or life gate of many countries' foreign trade.
Western countries have imposed sanctions on some Russian banks, and the sanctioned banks cannot conduct overseas settlements in the short term, which is undoubtedly a major blow to Russian banks. However, as noted in the European Union statement, not all Russian banks are sanctioned.In other words, while European countries imposed sanctions on Russian commercial banks, they have realized that their own interests need to be protected. Therefore, Russia can still carry out financial cooperation with overseas to conduct necessary fund settlements. However, Russia has learned its lessons and may take a series of preventive measures when conducting financial business with the United States and European countries in the future to prevent the United States from implementing "long-arm jurisdiction."
The cruelty of the international financial market is fully reflected with the help of financial sanctions measures in Western countries such as the United States. Western countries use their financial hegemony to impose financial sanctions on a country at any time. This fully demonstrates the absurdity of the international financial system, and also fully demonstrates that reform of the international financial system is urgent.
In recent years, China has always advocated the establishment of a fair and reasonable international financial order, and has practiced it to rebuild a complete and scientific international financial information settlement system. The financial settlement system developed by China has officially started to operate, but due to its relatively few members, it has limited influence in the international market environment.
Russian Satellite Communications and Financial Russia publicly reported that Russia decided to join China's cross-border interbank payment system (CIPS), which marked the increase in members of the cross-border interbank payment system established by China in 2015. So far, China has established a cross-border interbank payment system with about 3,000 members. That is to say, compared with SWIFT, Chinese financial institutions are only one-third of SWIFT. If China wants to completely get rid of its dependence on SWIFT. , I'm afraid it will take more effort.
Now people are worried about whether the United States and some Western countries will use their so-called jurisdiction to impose sanctions on relevant Chinese companies. For example, when Chinese companies use China's cross-border interbank payment system to engage in fund settlement, will some countries such as the United States impose sanctions on relevant Chinese companies? The answer is obvious. Western countries will not be willing to fail. In order to safeguard their vested interests and consolidate the dominance of SWIFT, they will definitely impose sanctions on relevant Chinese companies. If Chinese commercial banks or Chinese companies use China's cross-border interbank payment system, then Chinese banks and Chinese companies must consider that they may be squeezed out of the SWIFT system, which may be for Chinese banks and Chinese companies to conduct cross-border business. It will have a very big impact.
Five Eyes joins hands with SWIFT's political arithmetic
The once quite secretive "Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance" gradually moved to the forefront after the "9.11" incident. The "Snowden Incident" that occurred in 2013 was an important turning point. Although the information disclosed in the incident brought huge public pressure to the alliance, countries took this opportunity to push the alliance to the front office. Five Eyes began to appear in in the strategic and policy documents of each country.
Since 2017, the heads of state and intelligence agencies of the five countries have frequently put pressure on Russia, China (CN) and others in international occasions in the name of the "Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance", showing that the organization has gone from "special intelligence network" to "intelligence security alliance" to "intelligence security alliance". ”The trend of evolution. It can be foreseen that the "Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance" will have an increasingly important impact on the intelligence and security competition between China and the United States. After the "Snowden Incident" in 2013, other intelligence cooperation mechanisms between the United States and its allies, such as "Nine Eyes", "Four Eyes", and "Forty-One Eyes", also gradually surfaced.
In July 2017, Yale University School of Law and Privacy International (Privacy International) required to publicly publicly and "Five Eyes" according to the " Freedom of Information Law " Information related to the Intelligence Alliance. Since April 2018, the National Security Bureau and the State Council have begun to decrypt more secret files. The closest document to now is the secret agreement between the United States and Australia to extend cooperation between signal intelligence stations in 1988.
The fierce competition between China and the United States in technology is Obama During his administration, the United States began to accuse CN of stealing US intellectual property rights. After Trump came to power, he even launched a political, economic and judicial war against CN technology companies, and through the "Five Eyes" With its unique closure, the United States can use intelligence security as a reason to force its allies to stop using CN's network products and technologies without providing specific evidence to the public and Congress.
In the hot Huawei incident, the United States put pressure on the member states of the Five Eyes Alliance to prohibit Huawei from participating in the construction of 5G networks. The United States, Australia and New Zealand successively issued ban orders , and the United Kingdom issued restrictions on some companies' use of Huawei chips, while Canada was unwilling to follow other countries' decisions rashly.
In fact, Huawei has been deeply involved in the research and development and preliminary projects of Canada's 5G network. If Huawei's products and services are prohibited, it will bring more than 10 to Canada's largest telecommunications companies, BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. The loss of 100 million Canadian dollars also seriously affects the deployment progress of 5G networks. In September 2018, the director of the Canadian Cybersecurity Center said in a public response that "it has not been found that the use of Huawei equipment will pose a threat to national security so far, and there is no need to prohibit Huawei from participating in the construction of 5G networks." However, Canada was soon retaliated by the United States. Therefore, the "Meng Wanzhou Incident" is actually a punitive measure made by the United States against Canada, which puts Canada in the center of the whirlpool of competition for major powers and is in a dilemma.
The "Five Eyes Alliance" led by the United States has grand, long-term and complex strategic considerations, which essentially reflects the basic competitive relationship between the North and the South and between China and the United States, and has certain regularity and necessity. Therefore, before the structural contradictions between China and the United States and the North and South are eradicated, the multi-level struggle around world economic and trade rules will continue, with the traditional developed camp led by the United States and the emerging countries led by China around the world. The "land enclosure" movement will continue. In the future, there may be a "cross-two oceans" economic sector led by the United States and a "Eurasian continent" economic sector led by China. Based on the two major economic sectors, it may be Form a confrontation between two new "camps". This is a practical problem that China must face. If we still rely entirely on SWIFT, then China will be subject to control everywhere. China must consider whether to confront the tit-for-tat, establish its own cross-border interbank payment system, ensure that the interests of Chinese commercial banks and enterprises are not damaged, or to succumb to pressure from Western countries such as the United States and still use the SWIFT system.
Now many countries have expressed their unwillingness to choose between China and the United States, and they have found that China has become stronger. Then in this way, it will certainly be beneficial for China to resolve the conflict between , the South China Sea, to become cooperative development. Therefore, the wisdom of China's diplomacy is to let the ten ASEAN countries take the lead, and let Singapore, a country that is not threatening to China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and China, initiate and speak for China. This plays a greater role than China's appearance in person.
The United States' "integration-transformation" strategy is also a reference for Russia and China. The rational use and transformation of various existing economic and trade cooperation mechanisms in the regions involved in China's "Belt and Road" plan may be less resistance, and it may Produce higher economic and political benefits. In this regard, targeted advance publicity and diplomatic "public relations" are very necessary. Among them, whether it is possible to give full consideration and corresponding respect to the economic and trade mechanisms dominated by Russia, especially the region led by India, is the basic condition for the long-term and smooth implementation of the Belt and Road strategic plan.
In addition, the United States has been promoting North American Free Trade Zone and the Association of South American Countries to build a U.S. Free Trade Zone. Russia is also building Eurasian Economic Alliance based on the CIS, and the BRICS Group (BRICS) We have also begun to establish an economic cooperation mechanism between the five countries. In recent years, China has further expanded bilateral and multilateral security cooperation with Southeast Asian countries, promoted the conclusion and implementation of the "Multi-Party Code of Conduct in the South China Sea", and reduced the opportunities for the "Five Eyes" to interfere in the South China Sea.At the same time, it firmly demands that the United States and other "Five Eyes" countries provide sufficient reasons and evidence for prohibiting technology companies such as Huawei from entering the market, and expose the economic and political considerations behind their so-called "intelligence security".
"Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance" evolved from intelligence network to security alliance reflects several important strategic adjustments of the United States. In cooperation with the Indo-Pacific strategy, the current United States' allies in Southeast Asia are currently taking " Hedging strategy "to balance China-US influence, South Asia India also insists on strong independence, and the "Five Eyes" is the only intelligence network in the United States that can be trusted and can cover the entire Indo-Pacific region.
Judging from the current situation, China is still the main customer of SWIFT. Since China is the world's largest trading country, the amount of settlement through SWIFT is relatively large. If some developed countries such as the United States decide to squeeze out China, then it will not only be China that will be harmed, but also Western developed countries will suffer. Harmful.
From this perspective, China is not afraid of sanctions imposed by the United States and other Western countries on China. China will continue to build China's cross-border interbank payment system.
Not only that, China has been preparing for the future in recent years, through the development of electronic currencies and cooperation with SWIFT, it has expanded the scope of use of Chinese electronic currencies. The reason why China Electronic Currency chose to cooperate with SWIFT is because there are a large number of customers in this system. That is to say, SWIFT has a huge database, and the major banks in most countries in the world are among them. They chose to cooperate with SWIFT to cooperate with China Electronic Currency. The cross-border settlement has very important practical significance.
Of course, since SWIFT is completely in the hands of developed Western market economies, it is obvious that China has established a cross-border settlement system for electronic currencies and the risk of choosing to cooperate with SWIFT is obvious. On the one hand, China must fully realize that SWIFT is the largest database in the world today, and cooperation with this system is of great significance to the promotion of China's electronic currency, but on the other hand, it must fully realize that in order to get rid of the financial situation of Western countries. The dependence of the system must be taken to take decisive measures. In the process of building an electronic currency settlement system, we cannot be indecisive and worry about gains and losses.
