I am unsure of what a continuation of this governmental stand-off could mean for the rest of the world' though there are warnings that it will precipitate a huge financial crisis
( See: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-07/a-u-s-default-seen-as-catastrophe-dwarfing-lehman-s-fall.html
and http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24511283 )
but I think it does mean that the US dollar should no longer be the world's reserve currency, if only because of the US governments policy of weakening the dollar over the previous couple of years.
I also doubt that the Chinese government is wanting their Yuan (RMB) to become the future reserve currency. They are certainly promoting nation to nation deals that by-pass the US dollar as the reserve currency, but my observation is that they are advocating a new international reserve currency to be established for the benefit of all nations, not just the USA.
The Chinese have supported US borrowings based partly on the US dollars reserve currency status, but as noted above they have become deeply concerned about the US governments inability to manage its finances, and my guess is that whatever level of gold reserves they are holding is more of a hedge against US financial failure.