The Future of International Liquidity and the Role of China

This paper analyzes the consequences of the internationalization of the Chinese renminbi for the global monetary system and its possible ascension to reserve currency status. In an unstable and financially integrated world, governments＇ precautionary demand for reserve assets is likely to increase. But the world then risks a third crisis of the global reserve system, another re-run of the Triffin paradox, with an ever-growing emerging-world insurance demand loaded onto a small group of ever more strained net debt suppliers. Two ways to avoid this outcome would entail either expanding the supply of credible reserve liquidity to include some large emerging-market providers, or finding ways to manage emerging-market risks so as to moderate the perceived need for insurance, and China would have to loom large in both solutions. This paper analyzes the consequences of the internationalization of the Chinese renminbi for the global monetary system and its possible ascension to reserve currency status. It argues that if the process proves feasible, despite the difficult hurdles along the way, the results of internationalization would be constructive, both for China and the rest of the world. In today＇s global monetary system, the emergence of the renminbi （along with other developed- and emerging-market currencies） as a potential reserve currency would expand and diversify the supply of reserve assets, enabling central banks to maintain large buffers against financial shocks while allowing the United States to avoid issuing, as now, a large and growing bulk of the world＇s safe and liquid claims, and thus bearing the burden of an ever-expanding, and ultimately questionable, debt to the rest of the world.     

RMB Exchange Market Pressure and Central Bank Exchange Market Intervention

The present paper uses the model-dependent and the modeL independent approach to measure the RMB exchange market pressure （EMP） and the central bank＇s intervention using monthly data from January 1999 to June 2008. It is determined that the RMB has been under great appreciation pressure over the past decade. However, the pressure has been weakening since 2005. The two approaches provide significantly different results in terms of the estimated RMB EMP indices and the estimated central bank＇s interventions. The differences may lead to different predietions of potential currency crises. According to the estimation of the RMB EMP, and based on the model-independent approach, the paper shows that China has been under threat of an appreciation currency crisis since 2008. Therefore, China should adopt a moreflexible exchange rate regime to prevent a potential crisis.     

China's Exchange Rate Movements and Corporate Currency Invoicing Strategies

Since China introduced a new managed floating exchange rate regime in 2005, the persistent appreciation of the renminbi against the US dollar has led Chinese firms to reassess their choice of invoice currency among the dollar and other international alternatives to price their exports. The present paper performs a systematic invoice currency analysis by surveying the published literature, summarizing criteria for decision-making, and evaluating the choices available to Chinese exporters implementing currency invoicing strategies to maximize expected profits. This study finds that the euro could play an increasing role as the invoice currency of Chinese firms, although the US dollar will still play a dominant role. Chinese exporters might shift gradually from the dollar to the euro in the face of the falling dollar, balancing between the two by necessity.     

The Reform on Equilibrium Exchange Rate and Intervention Models of Renminbi＇s Exchange Rate

This paper establishes a theoretical analysis framework by integrating both the foreign exchange rate regime and the issue of financial globalization. It also deals with the research and analysis on how to prudently push forward the reform on renminbi （RMB）＇s exchange rate, adjust and institute the free convertibility of RMB, so as to meet the demands of further expansion of the Chinese economic and financial reform and opening-up, participation in the economic and financial globalization, integration into the global economy and the acceleration of the Chinese economy, against the backdrop of financial globalization.     

RMB Internationalization and Its Implications for Financial and Monetary Cooperation in East Asia

This paper emphasizes the importance of the denomination of financial assets rather than trade invoicing as a long-term determinant of an international currency. China needs to liberalize and open its financial system and make the RMB fully convertible, and to adopt a moreflexible exchange rate system to speed up its currency internationalization, for which China could follow either a global or regional approach. The global approach is a riskier and more unpredictable strategy because it would demand a scope and timeframe of financial liberalization that is likely to be beyond China＇s institutional capacity over the coming decade. There are two options that could be taken in following the regional approach. One is creating an ASEAN＋ New 3 （the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong, and Taiwan） RMB bloc and the other is liberalizing China＇s financial industries and internationalizing the RMB by playing a leading role in East Asia＇s economic integration within the framework of ASEAN＋ 3, This paper concludes that the latter is a more realistic and effective approach for China.     

Intraregional Cross-holding of Reserve Currencies： A Proposal for Asia to Deal with the Global Reserve Risks

Economists have put forward various proposals to deal with the growing risks of the global reserve currency system. In this paper we recommend that Asian economies hold each other＇s currencies as part of their foreign reserves. Different from crisis-fighting currency swap arrangements or crisis-rescuing fund mechanisms, this mechanism means that reserves wouM be held, with a regular arrangement in place and on an ongoing basis. We propose that the global reserve system shouM be pushed in the direction of diversification, which could be a transitional step toward a new single reserve system. This mechanism would not necessitate any currency being a globally accepted reserve currency but would mean that every currency carried some weight in the reserve system. Establishment of such a system would require significant development of regional bond markets and facilitation of macroeconomic surveillance among the economies.     

What Caused the Sharp Downturn in the Chinese Economy during the Global Financial Crisis？ A Critical Note on Causality in Trade Linkage

In responding to a view that attributes sharp downturns in the Chinese economy in late 2008 and early 2009 to the ＂collapse of external demand,＂ the present paper scrutinizes three relevant issues： How have large Chinese importers behaved in a demand-price setting？ How have Chinese commodity imports and exports interacted in recent years？ Did the downturns in China＇s export growth come earlier and were they deeper than those in Chinese import growth？ All answers appear to suggest a conclusion contrary to the abovementioned view： sharp downturns in China＇s trade and economy during the reeent global financial crisis were, to a large extent, caused by certain domestic factors, or by factors that should not be regarded as entirely ＂external. ＂ Insomuch as globalization has advanced, a large economy like China＇s today faces new potential sources of macroeeonomic disturbances, from inside and outside.     

Chinese Offshore RMB Currency and Bond Markets： The Role of Hong Kong

This paper discusses the role of Hong Kong in China’s grand scheme to build up the RMB as a global reserve currency.We highlight the economic importance of Hong Kong to China in terms of channeling foreign direct investment into China,some of which,in the future,will be denominated in the RMB.We discuss the development of China’s RMB currency swap and deposit markets in Hong Kong.These offshore markets enable the RMB to trade freely, setting the stage for the RMB to become fully convertible and allowing market forces to play a role in pricing the value of the RMB,and help in the development of the RMB-denominated bond(or dim sum bond)market in Hong Kong.Finally,we present evidence of the phenomenal growth of the dim sum bond market in Hong Kong,which can further enhance and strengthen the use of the RMB outside China.     

Global climate change and the research on technical paths of Chinese steel and iron industry against the climate change

The article introduces the impact and essence of climate change and analyzes the attitudes and measures of international community to fight global climate change. From the perspectives of Clean Development Mechanism, Voluntary Carbon Market, energy audit and potential carbon asset investment, this paper discusses the feasible paths of Chinese steel ＆ iron industry against global climate change and summarizes the main fields of adapting to the development of CDM project activities.     

On China’s Exchange Rate Flexibility and Stability: The More Flexible against the U.S. Dollar, the More Stable in Effective Terms

I. IntroductionFor many years, the Chinese authorities have often expressed their appreciation for the merits of a flexible exchange rate regime for China and their willingness to make the exchange rate of the renminbi, China’s national currency, be determined by market forces. 1 In the same breath, however, they also stressed the importance of a “stable exchange rate” forChina, although it is not clear what the authorities meant by a “stable exchange rate.” (The People’s bank of Chin…     

Renminbi internationalization as a response to the global imbalance

The build-up of huge foreign exchange reserve makes China a net creditor and also brings in significant challenges to the Chinese economy. Considering the internationalization of the renminbi as China’s response to the global imbalance, this paper analyzes the effect of renminbi internationalization on the formation of reserves and compares its benefits and costs in rebalancing China’s external position with those of outward direct investment. It assesses the current progress in the practice of using the renminbi in cross-border trade settlement and in the development of the offshore renminbi market. It further examines the possibility of the renminbi serving as a global reserve currency in the future.     

Renminbi Internationalization in the New Normal: Progress,Determinants and Policy Discussions

In the present paper we explore the internationalization of the renminbi with reference to the experiences of other monetary powers, and discuss its determinants, prospects and implications for China's development in the “new normal.” Specifically, after summarizing the major progress made thus far, we conduct a regression analysis, showing that economic size and financial conditions are significant determinants of the international currency status, while inertia and other unobserved factors also play important roles. These empirical findings enable us to undertake a scenario analysis focusing on the renminbi's potential to become a global reserve currency. Based on this quantitative research, we then revisit China's policy initiatives designed to promote its currency overseas. In our view, the internationalization of the renminbi, along with financial deepening and liberalization, should be regarded as a means to achieve China's goal of reaching a more sustainable and balanced model of development.     

Renminbi Going Global

The present paper evaluates the international status of the Chinese currency, the renminbi (RMB), by examining its use in the global market. Specifically, the discussion focuses on the recent developments of RMB trading in the global foreign exchange market, cross‐border trade settlement in RMB, the Hong Kong offshore market and China's policies relating to the RMB. The evidence suggests that the use of the RMB overseas, especially in trade financing and in the off‐shore market, has increased rapidly in recent years. However, compared with the size of the Chinese economy, the current scale of the use of the RMB is quite small. Although the RMB has great potential to become an international currency, its acceptance in the global economy is affected by both economic and political factors. Attaining a fully fledged international RMB is still a distant goal.     

Geographic Spread of Currency Trading: The Renminbi and Other Emerging Market Currencies

This paper studies the ongoing diffusion of renminbi (RMB) trading across the globe, the first of such research of an international currency. It analyses the distribution in offshore RMB trading in 2013 and 2016 using comprehensive data from the Triennial Central Bank Survey of foreign exchange markets. In 2013, Asian centers favored by the policy of RMB internationalization had disproportionate shares in global RMB trading. Over the following three years, RMB trading seemed to converge to the spatial pattern of all currencies, with a half‐life of seven to eight years. The previously most traded emerging market currency, the Mexican peso, shows a similar pattern, although it is converging to the global norm more slowly. Three other emerging market currencies show a qualitatively similar evolution in the geography of their offshore trading. Overall, the RMB's internationalization is tracing an arc from the influence of administrative measures to the working of market forces.     

人民币国际化的现状和展望

2009年7月,中国当局允许在跨境贸易中使用人民币结算。之后跨境贸易人民币结算量迅速增长,可以说人民币的国际化迈出了一大步。但就目前来看,人民币结算仅限于经常项目和一部分资本项目,尽管人民币交易在香港已较自由,但达到国际化程度还尚须时日。中国当局允许跨境贸易人民币结算的目的之一是摆脱过度依赖美元。在人民币完全实现国际化之前,推动货币多元化是一种次善之策,而日中间贸易结算使用日元对两国也是一种选择。     

从跨境贸易人民币结算看人民币国际化战略

中国改革开放以后经历了本币和外币政策的重大变化.2008年金融危机爆发后,人民币国际化不仅成为保护实体企业的一项短期应对措施,而且成为中国一项重要的国际金融战略.推进跨境贸易人民币计算是人民币国际化路线图的重要一步.这一行动取得了一定成果,但是并没有达到预期效果.进一步推进跨境贸易人民币结算的运行面临诸多问题的挑战.在...     

Will the renminbi become a world currency?

China has emerged as a major power in the world economy, so it seems natural to consider whether its currency will also have a major role. At present the renminbi is not used internationally. We look at the factors that contribute to the international use of currencies, and focus on the aspects of China's financial system that would have to change before the renminbi emerged as an important regional or world currency. Even with significant reforms, two questions would remain: whether the authorities would want to encourage its international use, and whether an economy with substantial party control could gain international acceptance for its currency.     

Risk and Asian Exchange Rate Regimes

Abstract

A panel regression gives evidence that more flexibility in Asian exchange rates reduces risk associated with bank borrowing abroad, but deviations from mean exchange rates, and from the renminbi, increase risk. Since the exchange rate regime affects bank behavior and the incentives to hedge, the results broadly support the bank run over the moral hazard view of twin banking and currency crisis. The results suggest that flexibility in exchange rates is required for Asian EMEs, but the flexibility has to be limited, and it depends on more flexibility in the renminbi. This has implications for current global imbalances in reserves and feasible adjustment paths.     

In search of an optimal strategy for yuan’s real revaluation

International commentators seem to have a consensus view that the Chinese yuan is substantially undervalued and the Chinese monetary authority must take speedy actions to redress the currency misalignment by rapid nominal revaluation. This paper argues for a gradualist but comprehensive strategy for adjusting the renminbi’s exchange rate. Taking into consideration the facts that the yuan’s undervaluation is caused by an array of domestic and international factors and that the Chinese central bank cannot effectively invest its growing holdings of foreign reserves, we develop a framework to provide a theoretical underpinning for the optimal strategy for the renminbi’s gradual revaluation. With this strategy, the renminbi undervaluation problem is gradually redressed through a combination of nominal appreciation and higher inflation plus some other structural and macroeconomic policies. This strategy can also allow absorption of external imbalances, hence strengthening the foundation of China’s long-term growth.     

Renminbi Internationalization： Progress, Prospect and Comparison

Using principal component analyses, this paper constructs two internationalization indices for the renminbi (RMB) and 32 other major currencies. We find that the RMB's currency internationalization degree index (CIDI) is still low, and far behind the 4 most important international currencies. In 2009, it was ranked 18th among all important international currencies. However, in terms of the currency internationalization prospect index (CIPI), the RMB has remained the world's fifth highest since 2006. Although it is still far behind the US dollar and the euro, surpassing the ranking of the yen and the pound is possible in the near future. The dramatic difference in the ranking between the CIDI and the CIPI is a result of China's tight capital account control, the usage continuity of international currency due to network externalities, and the narrow foreign exchange and imperfect financial markets. Hence, to a large degree, the RMB's potential as an international currency depends on China's capital account liberalization.