Abstract. The purpose of this article is to analyze Chinese Yuan and major international reserve currencies on the basis of particular criteria such as a currency’s use in settling cross-border trade and financial transactions. The author estimates the potential of Yuan’s convertibility and its achieving the status of an international reserve currency. The author lays out a background to assess the impact of these probabilities on stable and sustainable economic development in China itself. The conclusion is that the character of Yuan’s internationalization is strikingly different from similar examples of other currencies’ historic paths to an international reserve currency status in that it is closely controlled by the government.