Argentina will pay for Chinese imports in renminbi instead of U.S. dollars, the country's Economy Minister Sergio Massa said on Wednesday in a latest move away from the greenback.

The shift to the yuan in trade with China would bring more "freedom" for Argentina and strengthen its reserves, said Massa at a press conference also attended by Chinese Ambassador Zou Xiaoli.

The move would increase efficiency in clearing transactions and lower exchange costs while ensuring the safety of fund and information flows, said Pang Ming, chief economist for Greater China at JLL.

It is necessary and feasible for major trading nations to use their own currencies for trade settlement in order to reduce dependence on a single major currency, said Pang.

Massa said that Argentina is set to pay for Chinese imported goods worth approximately $1.04 billion this month with the Chinese currency. And he expects to pay for Chinese imports worth between $790 million and $1 billion from May onwards in yuan.

Zou, China's ambassador to Argentina, stressed the importance of currency and financial cooperation between the two countries and encourages companies to use local currencies for bilateral trade and investment.

China and Argentina signed an agreement to expand the currency swap provision in January which will reinforce Argentina's existing 130-billion-yuan ($18.8 billion) forex reserves and activate 35 billion yuan ($5 billion) of disposable quota.

Since the beginning of 2023, de-dollarization has gained momentum with countries adopting various measures to ditch the U.S. currency.

Prior to Argentina, China and Brazil announced to use their own currencies in bilateral trade and financial transactions. Additionally, China and France have completed the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) cross-border yuan settlement and Southeast Asian countries have agreed to further strengthen the use of local currencies within the region.

The RMB's share in global transactions is rising notably. The yuan's share in China's cross-border payments and receipts overtook that of the U.S. dollar for the first time in March, data from Bloomberg Intelligence shows.

Specifically, the figures showed that the yuan's share in cross-border transactions in China has risen from almost zero in 2010 to 48 percent at the end of March this year. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar's share in China's cross-border trading has dropped from 83 percent to 47 percent over the same period.

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