The Chinese yuan, or renminbi, could give the dollar a run for its money one day, at least when it comes to being a major reserve currency, analysts say. Those days may still be far off in 2018, but recent developments show that there’s a new kid on the reserve block that’s worth noting. “There’s nothing quite like a falling dollar to spur talk of the erosion of the greenback’s reserve status,” said Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy for Brown Brothers Harriman. The U.S. dollar DXY, -0.18% is the world’s leading reserve currency, but it isn’t the only one. The euro EURUSD, +0.2860% , British pound GBPUSD, +0.1943% , Japanese yen USDJPY, -0.44% and also China’s yuan USDCNY, -0.3021% are up there with it. Given the U.S. dollar’s poor performance compared to its major rivals in 2017, talk of diversifying into different reserve currencies in the new year has increased. For example, analysts expect a pickup in euro-buying from the reserve community in 2018 after the shared currency was such a steady outperformer last year. But there has also been more talk about the yuan of late, including a yuan-denominated oil benchmark, another dollar-dominated area. This week, the Bank of France confirmed that it held the Chinese currency as part of its reserves, while the German central bank said it will add yuan to its arsenal in the future. Meanwhile, China is also reportedly diversifying its FX reserves. BofA Merrill Lynch Global via