China’s push for RMB internationalization

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This week on Sinica, Kaiser and Jeremy welcome Diana Choyleva and Dinny McMahon, who recently published a report for the Wilson Center on China’s efforts to internationalize the Renminbi, its currency. Diana Choyleva is chief economist and founder of Enodo Economics, an independent macroeconomic forecasting consultancy she set up in 2016. Dinny McMahon is a formerย Wall Street Journalย reporter and author of the bookย China’s Great Wall of Debt. Their report is called โ€œChinaโ€™s Quest for Financial Self-Reliance: How Beijing Plans to Decouple from the Dollar-Based Global Trading and Financial System.โ€

2:38 โ€“ The advantages the U.S. enjoys through the dollarโ€™s global primacy

4:40 โ€“ย  How Beijing sees the dollarโ€™s dominance as a strategic vulnerability

7:11 โ€“ Other countries who actively pursued internationalization of their currency

10:07 โ€“ International trust deficit regarding Chinaโ€™s currency

13:37 โ€“ Right-sizing Chinaโ€™s currency ambitions

15:13 โ€“ How China incentives increased demand for the RMB

24:19 โ€“ Are we currently at a critical turning point of currency displacement?

36:42 โ€“ The role of digital currency in Chinaโ€™s monetary strategy

43:42 โ€“ The BRI as a mechanism for expanding the circulation of the RMB

A transcript of this podcast is available at TheChinaProject.com.

Recommendations:

Jeremy:ย This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctorย by Adam Kay;ย Kay’s Anatomyย by Adam Kay

Diana:ย Picking up dancing as a pastime;ย China: The Gathering Threatย by Constantine Menges

Dinny:ย Lombard Streetย by Walter Bagehot

Kaiser:ย The Amazon miniseriesย The English