China finds a new Gulf partner for its digital yuan push after losing Saudi Arabia

China announced on November 3 a five-year currency-swap arrangement with Oman capped at 30 billion yuan and matched against 1.5 billion Omani rials, plus a separate memorandum on digital-payment and legal digital-currency cooperation. The agreements were signed in Beijing by People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng and Central Bank of Oman Governor Ahmed bin Jaafar Al Musalmi. The digital-currency deal follows Saudi Arabia’s central bank ending its participation in China’s Project mBridge, a cross-border central-bank digital-currency platform, after completing a proof of concept on May 13, 2025. The Oman agreements do not mention mBridge or platform membership, leaving it unclear whether China has replaced Saudi Arabia there.