One post up. China, CIPS, strategic interests.

is proximity to the country that owns a transaction processing system relevant in a fully digital world?

Do you see India and Japan (and Vietnam and South Korea, all within the circle) joining a system controlled by China.

India has its own SWIFT alternative as a matter of fact

>> is proximity to the country that owns a transaction processing system relevant in a fully digital world?

Very much yes. Think of two people trading rice between china and the Philippians. That rice is not digital. It is traveling across a not-digital ocean on a not-digital ship. If something goes wrong with a payment they would much rather be dealing with someone in the same timezone who can address the issue before the non-digital ship gets locked down somewhere. When things go very wrong, they don't want to be shopping for a European lawfirm to help with a matter between two Asian businesses. Timezones, language and local understanding still matters for realworld trade.

One nit, many developing countries do pick overseas legal systems to resolve commercial disputes because local systems are not workable / usable. So you might be in india and philippines, but use a london bank for a letter of credit and agreements / bills of lading that are handled in London

https://www.gov.uk/courts-tribunals/commercial-court

A winning combo is a functioning, fair, nonpolitical legal system that works QUICKLY and predictably (fairness a bit secondary) and banking / finance so decisions can be enforced more easily.

> something goes wrong with a payment they would much rather be dealing with someone in the same timezone

These systems are for the banks to transfer between them..

If a payment goes wrong, it's still the bank's problem. This is opaque to the end user if I understand it correctly.

And Going by this logic would the entire world also stop using Gmail and start using Alibaba/Tencent's email service?

Countries in the proximity of other countries are more likely to have larger trade volumes between them, increasing the chances they hold each others currencies in reserves and have incentives to use a common payment network. This is why geographic proximity is relevant even in a fully digital world. At least while a significant portion of trade consists of physical goods that have to be moved across borders.

No, India will not let its financial graph be owned by China. US or EU its a different matter -- even then, as India becomes stronger economy would carve its own platform.