This paper reviews the steps that China has taken towards financial reform with a particular focus on capital account liberalisation and internationalisation of the use of the renminbi. After a slowdown in reform momentum during the global financial crisis, there is a clear push towards reform,...

The renminbi (RMB) has become something of a buzzword that is mentioned in all discussions, despite the fact that the currency is not convertible. In fact, there are good reasons for its notoriety. First of all, it is the currency of an economy that within only a few years has become the biggest...

This paper shows empirically that China's trade balance is sensitive to fluctuations in the real effective exchange rate of the renminbi, although the size of the surplus is such that exchange rate policy alone will be unable to address the imbalance. One of the main reasons why the reduction in...

This paper sets out a political economy model of strategic exchange rates, focusing in the importance of external lobbying. Applying it for the recent history of the Japanese yen, we show that pressure from the U.S. trade negotiators contributed to an appreciation of the Japanese yen, as well as...