The international bank note printing market is becoming more competitive than ever, now with a new and powerful player recently entering the game. As the South China Morning Post said on Aug. 12, “other countries are giving China a license to print money.”

The paper says China’s state-owned presses have been running at full capacity, but not for Chinese currency. Instead, among other nations, Thailand, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, India, Brazil and Poland have looked to China as a provider of paper money.

It adds that some of these countries have asked the Chinese not to publicize the relationship on the grounds of national security and a fear of “unnecessary debates at home.”

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The new venture is said to be a part of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, a foreign policy implemented in 2013 in which China underwrites billions of dollars of infrastructure investment in countries on the old Silk Road. Sixty-eight countries are participating in the program, for which China is reportedly spending $150 billion a year. Most of its printing clients are participating.

China Banknote Printing and Minting Corp. says it is the world’s largest coin and paper money producer. It has 18,000 employees in 10 facilities. Its first reported foreign contract was for Nepal’s 100-rupee note in 2015. 

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