The National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity of Uzbekistan, UzNatsBank, announced that it has become the country's first commercial bank to establish a direct connection with China's Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS).
The agreement for direct connection was signed on September 9, 2026, during an official visit of the Uzbek delegation to Hong Kong, led by Prime Minister Abdullah Aripov. UzNatsBank concluded a contract with the CIPS operator Co., Ltd. against the backdrop of the XI Summit on Support and Development.
This direct connection will allow UzNatsBank to conduct cross-border transactions in Chinese yuan without involving intermediary correspondent banks. This is expected to accelerate payment processes and reduce costs associated with servicing foreign trade contracts.
The CIPS system covers over 1,800 financial institutions in 130 countries, and in 2025, more than 180.2 trillion yuan were processed through it. UzNatsBank itself has already attracted credit lines in yuan totaling over 11.5 billion yuan, equivalent to 1.6 billion US dollars.
In the future, the status of a direct participant in CIPS will enable UzNatsBank to act as a central clearing house for other commercial banks in Uzbekistan. This could potentially contribute to the creation of a national channel for direct yuan settlements and expand the infrastructure for cross-border payments with China.
Established in 1991, UzNatsBank is the largest systemically important bank in Uzbekistan. As of the end of 2025, its assets exceeded 12 billion US dollars, its loan portfolio amounted to 9 billion US dollars, total capital surpassed 1.6 billion US dollars, and net profit reached 160 million US dollars.
The CIPS system was launched by the People's Bank of China in 2015 to promote the international use of the yuan. Unlike SWIFT, this system provides not only financial messages but also clearing and settlement in yuan.