China will continue to import large volumes of oil and gas from the Persian Gulf countries and make only settlements in Chinese yuan. This was announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping at a summit with Arab leaders, Business Insider reports.

“The platform of the Shanghai Oil and Natural Gas Exchange will be fully used for settlements in yuan for oil and gas trading,” said the PRC head.

However, it is not yet known when the changes will take effect and whether any of the Gulf countries will accept the offer. However, Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, has already started talks on using the yuan to settle energy sales.

Such a move would weaken the U.S. dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency, spurring “de-dollarization.” The Chinese authorities are trying to make the yuan the dominant reserve currency in the world, but the official currency of China is still not freely convertible and Beijing still controls its exchange rate.