China's Fixed Exchange Rates Essay

For the last twenty eight years, China has been quickly growing into one of the largest economies in the world. China has accomplished this feat, in part, by radically changing their policies on trade and free market interactions with other countries. During this process, China has bought approximately one hundred trillion dollars of United States debt in the form of Treasury bills, notes, bonds, and Inflation Protected Securities (Amadeo). This debt has given China leverage against the United States which has enabled China to keep the value of the United States dollar high, while keeping the value of the Chinese yuan low. As the inflation of the dollar continues to negatively affect the

It is this that has sparked China’s vulnerability to external shocks. In 2011, China’s exports amassed almost $2 trillion, however in Feb 2012, China recorded a $31.5 billion trade deficit as a result of the European sovereign debt crisis in which China’s main trading partners plunged into recession. China’s severe BOGS decrease is an attempt to control growth and a sustained level of 7.5%. Investment policies are also critical for China to achieve economic growth and development. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in China is being sought primarily in the redesign of State Owned Enterprises (SOE’s) and in the development of interior provinces. Between 75-80% of World Bank loans to China in 2008 were directed to the central and western regions, the most economically disadvantaged. This promotes increased wealth within China, leading to higher levels of development due to a more positive Human Development Index (HDI), which currently sits at 0.687, up from 0.677 in 2010. Thus, trade and investment are critical factors in ensuring that China’s growth remains sustained at 7.5% whilst still encouraging increases in development.

These effective strategies helped Hong Kong overcome the financial crisis. All these facts fully demonstrated that China is a responsible big country. After the Asia financial crisis, the importance of China's economy has been brought into focus; China's neighboring countries have begun to recognize the influence of the Renminbi.

Currency exchange rates can be categorised as floating, in which case they constantly change based on a number of factors, or they can subsequently be fixed to another currency, where they still float, but they additionally move in conjunction with the currency to which they are pegged. Floating rates are a reflection of market movement, demonstrating the principles of both demand and supply, as well as limit imbalances in the international financial system. Fixed exchange rates are predominantly used by developing countries as they are preferred for their greater stability. They grant further control to central banks to set currency values, and are often used to evade market abuse. (MacEachern, A. 2008; Simmons, P.

In conclusion, I think that China should change its policy because it is damaging not only the U.S. economy but the economy globally. Countries such as the United States are still recovering from the economic recession we are still leaving in. It is obvious that if China let the Yuan appreciate their exports will decrease and imports will increase making their trade surplus to decrease. If this happens international countries will be grateful because by this happening means that their export will increase and employment will increase. Countries should avoid doing currency manipulation or artificially devaluing their currency because it just hurts the global economy and it promotes other countries to do the same – it hurts everyone.

China’s economical strength comes from its international trades as the economy has grown to a rate of 10.3% in 2010. It has become the world’s largest exporter in the global economy. In the

The change in the exchange rate policy to move to a more flexible floating exchange rate system will inevitably compromise China’s current advantageous position in trading especially the export which takes a heavy weight in China’s GDP. The appreciation of RMB will deprive the Chinese enterprises of the advantage to leverage the cheap materials and labor to compete in the international market. This might be a positive indication for China’s importers who has a focus on the domestic markets rather than the international market, where the importers’ purchasing power gets enhanced if the domestic currency appreciate. However, China is still heavily relying on export to grow their GDP at this point and a revaluation of RMB would be very dangerous for the country. Thousands of factories counting on exports might be closed and millions of workers would lose their jobs. As pointed out by Morgan Stanley Economist Andy Xie in the case, “China’s priority is stability and currency flexibility should not be allowed to conflict with this goal”. On the flip side though, a revaluation of the RMB would not necessarily change the current situation of US and EU who had a large trade deficit with China. The reduced imports from China are unlikely to stimulate the growth of the domestic productions of those

China, the largest growing market in the world, currently has a policy regarding monetary regulation that allows the Yuan to “float”. This has seen the Yuan appreciate by approximately 24% over the past few years. Today, the exchange rate between the Chinese Yuan and the American Dollar is approximately 6.3 Yuan to 1 Dollar. Some argue that China should revalue the Yuan again the dollar, establishing a more fixed exchange rate. Others believe that current should allow

Consequences regarding the international businesses and the flow of trade and investment among the three countries are given below as benefits and drawbacks of holding fixed exchange rate system-

Furthermore while China does have motivation to keep the value of the yuan down there are downsides. While China has strict regulations they cannot prevent powerful Multinational Enterprises from moving their business and foreign direct investment they bring elsewhere. More importantly it is estimated that the richest one percent of Chinese households hold $2 -5 trillion in property and liquid assets. If the yuan is devalued too much these wealthy could overwhelm China’s vast foreign exchange reserve. (The Economist, 2012)

Secondly, the fixed dollar-pegged exchange rate system and monetary policy, the independence of the existence of a fundamental conflict, undermine the effectiveness of monetary policy cannot meet the needs of economic development. Monetary policy autonomy is essential for China’s macroeconomic stability; monetary policy should take precedence over the independence of significant exchange rate stability. But the Yuan against the U.S. dollar exchange

Growth in exports and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) was extremely important to China’s economic success. During Mao’s last years in power, China was inaccessible to the outside world and this was costing the country growth-wise. Other countries such as Japan and Hong Kong were experiencing rapid growth from exports as shown in Exhibit 6, and China wanted to follow in their footsteps. The country has hard-working and educated people who could help make this a reality and Deng knew this was the next step in helping the country to be among the most advanced and most improved4. The United States has always been a wise contender and is always looking for ways to better its

In recent years, China’s balance of payments always keeps “double favorable balance”. In 2005, China’s national economy developed quickly and stably. The exchange rat of RMB became more flexible. The current account surplus increased obviously and the capital account surplus decreased. The foreign exchange reserve still increased quickly. In 2005, Chinese government did some fiscal policy and monetary policy. Such as decreased government expense, raise the tax rate, used managed floating system, improve the foreign exchange management, enlarged the foreign exchange market. We can conclude that china’s BOP will still keep “double favorable balance” and keep

With China's deepening Opening Up and economic restructure adjustment and the continuous appreciation of RMB in recent years, the

In 1994 the Chinese government made the decision to peg the RMB to the US dollar at a rate of US$1 to RMB8.7, a year later the Renminbi appreciated 5% and was revalued to RMB8.28. This rate would remain unchanged for the next 10 years, even though the Chinese faced heavy scrutiny and pressure to revalue their currency. The Chinese exercised many policies in maintaining their exchange rate. The PBoC controlled the amount of foreign currency by forcing all exporters to immediately sell their foreign currency to designated banks. The RMB could only be traded on the China Foreign Exchange Rate