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Lecture

The Internationalization of Renminbi, China's Economy

In course

HUM-249: Competing with China

Le cours sensibilise les étudiant·e·s aux implications de l'émergence de la Chine comme puissance économique et technologique en portant une réflexion critique sur les défis posés par cette transition. ...

Description

This lecture covers the internationalization of the Renminbi (RMB) and its impact on China's economy, discussing topics such as foreign exchange reserves, economic reforms, the value of the RMB, financial repression, and the challenges faced by the currency in becoming a global currency.

Instructor

Marc Laperrouza

Marc is a scientist and lecturer at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) and at the University of Lausanne (HEC). Marc obtained his PhD on China's telecommunication reforms from the London School of Economics. He holds a Master Degree in International Management (HEC, 1997) and an undergraduate degree in Business Management from the University of Lausanne (1993). He studied Chinese Language and Economics for two years at Fudan University, Shanghai (1993-1995) and one semester at the Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, Canada (1996). Marc was previously senior research associate at EPFL working on the coherence between institutional and technological governance in infrastructures (2007-2011). In a former life, he worked as a research analyst at Swiss Re and at McKinseys Business Technology Office. He served as deputy director and senior advisor to the Evian Group, a think tank based at IMD (Lausanne, Switzerland) and lectures regularly on China and emerging markets at undergraduate, graduate and executive levels. Marc contributes frequently to Swiss media. He is the Founder and President of the bonopro association and recipient of the Swiss Re Civilian Service Prize (2011).

Official source

Related concepts (26)

Exchange rate

In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of the euro. The exchange rate is also regarded as the value of one country's currency in relation to another currency. For example, an interbank exchange rate of 131 Japanese yen to the United States dollar means that ¥131 will be exchanged for or that will be exchanged for ¥131.

Foreign exchange reserves

Foreign exchange reserves (also called forex reserves or FX reserves) are cash and other reserve assets such as gold held by a central bank or other monetary authority that are primarily available to balance payments of the country, influence the foreign exchange rate of its currency, and to maintain confidence in financial markets. Reserves are held in one or more reserve currencies, nowadays mostly the United States dollar and to a lesser extent the euro.

China

China (), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's second-most populous country with a population exceeding 1.4 billion. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and borders fourteen countries by land, tied with Russia as having the most of any country in the world. With an area of nearly , it is the world's third largest country by total land area. The country consists of 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four municipalities, and two semi-autonomous special administrative regions.

Renminbi

The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China. It is the 5th most traded currency as of April 2022. The yuan ( or ) is the basic unit of the renminbi, but the word is also used to refer to the Chinese currency generally, especially in international contexts. One yuan is divided into 10 jiao (), and the jiao is further subdivided into 10 fen (). The renminbi is issued by the People's Bank of China, the monetary authority of China.

Reserve currency

A reserve currency (or anchor currency) is a foreign currency that is held in significant quantities by central banks or other monetary authorities as part of their foreign exchange reserves. The reserve currency can be used in international transactions, international investments and all aspects of the global economy. It is often considered a hard currency or safe-haven currency. The United Kingdom's pound sterling was the primary reserve currency of much of the world in the 19th century and first half of the 20th century.

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