Abstract: Under the background of strong US dollar, this paper studies the influence of strong US dollar on RMB’s currency anchor status with an extended empirical model based on the data of 35 countries along“the Belt and Road”. The results indicate that, when US dollar is strong, 11 countries will choose the anchoring RMB to stabilize their currency exchange rates; when the dollar is weak, the influence of RMB is small. RMB, US dollar and Euro are the main currency anchors in the currency circle of the countries along the route of the Belt and Road. The findings of further research show that, in the strong dollar cycle, RMB’s currency anchor status is significantly improved, while US dollar’s currency anchor status is declined. The existence of trade relationship and trade competition is the reason for the improvement of RMB’s currency anchor status, in addition, RMB as a currency anchor is still limited to the areas of ASEAN, East Asian and South Asian countries, and its influence on other countries along the route of the Belt and Road is relatively weak. Therefore, strengthening international policy coordination, continuously deepening trade cooperation and promoting RMB pricing of staple commodities will help to enhance RMB’s currency anchor status and promote RMB internationalization.

Key words: strong dollar, currency anchor status, the Belt and Road, RMB internationalization