Kazakhstan and China have finalized agreements to fully integrate their payment systems, with China’s alternative to SWIFT, known as CIPS, expected to launch in Kazakhstan this November. The announcement came from Binur Zhalenov, deputy head of Kazakhstan’s central bank, who is currently visiting Beijing.
Zhalenov said on Instagram that Kazakhstan and the People’s Bank of China have confirmed an agreement for comprehensive integration of the two countries’ payment systems. By the end of this year, the two countries plan to achieve interoperability between their QR code payment systems. Kazakhstan has reportedly become a core access point, or service center, for China’s CIPS network, which is set to launch in the country in November.
The two sides also plan to launch a pilot settlement program linking Kazakhstan’s digital tenge with China’s digital yuan, with implementation expected to begin in 2027.
SWIFT is an international secure financial messaging network used by banks worldwide to transmit financial information and process payments. CIPS, developed by the People’s Bank of China, is a cross-border payment system built to handle transactions in yuan and is widely viewed as an alternative to SWIFT, part of Beijing’s broader push to reduce reliance on Western-dominated financial infrastructure.
The report notes that Instagram is banned in Russia, where it has been designated as belonging to a platform owned by an organization classified as extremist.
Source: Sputnik News, July 30, 2026
https://sputniknews.cn/20260730/1072573453.html