China's moves to set up trading oil in yuan have sparkedenthusiasm about what could be a shift in the global financialsystem: a reduced role for the U.S. dollar. Players like AdamLevinson, founder of hedge fund Graticule Asset Management Asia,call it a “huge story” to come.

But with policy makers prioritizing market stability overinternationalization, plans laid back in 2012 to begin oil-futurestrading priced in yuan or dollars in Shanghai that year are stillpending. The latest from the city's International Energy Exchange:It's coming soon, with test trades scheduled this weekend.

“This contract has the potential to greatly help China's pushfor yuan internationalization,” said Yao Wei, chief China economistat Societe Generale SA in Paris. “But its success will hingecritically on the degree of freedom allowed for the capital flowsrelated to the contract.”