On November 30, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that the Chinese yuan is eligible to be included in the international currency basket, also known as the Special Drawing Rights (SDR).

A bank employee checks new 100 yuan bills at a bank in Beijing. (Source: THX/TTXVN)

The decision brings the yuan into the IMF's group of official reserve currencies, which currently includes the US dollar, euro, British pound and Japanese yen.

When the yuan is included in the SDR, it will be a breakthrough for China in the global financial system, while its position in financial markets will be strengthened and more prestigious.

The US - the IMF's largest shareholder, along with other Western countries, has criticized China for keeping the yuan's exchange rate low.

For many years, China has been persistently building a strategy to compete with the US dollar as an international reserve currency.

Beijing's greatest success so far has been to entice America's allies and establish the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), considered a counterweight to the US-dominated World Bank (WB).

According to Vietnam+