Italy has announced its formal withdrawal from the Belt and Road Initiative after joining the China-centered infrastructure and investment project in 2019.
The timing of the announcement that Rome won’t renew its BRI commitment is notable. It came only a day before the EU-China summit, which kicks off on Thursday. The summit will likely be more contentious than usual, with European leaders expected to push China on the treatment of EU firms amid discussions ...
Category: Currency
Currencies, Old and New, Set to Top Agenda at Next Week’s BRICS Summit in Johannesburg
The idea of creating a brand new currency under the auspices of the BRICS countries is "ridiculous," according to the former Goldman Sachs economist who coined the acronym for the five countries. Jim O'Neil echoed the sentiments of a number of ...
Plunging Chinese Trade Data Rattles Global South Stocks and Currencies
From Chile to South Africa to the Philippines, stock markets across the developing world fell sharply on Tuesday after Chinese customs authorities released worse-than-expected trade data. Chinese exports plunged 14.5% in July compared to the same time last year, the ...
New Development Bank Wants to Finance More Projects Using Local Currencies Rather Than the U.S. Dollar
The New Development Bank (aka the "BRICS Bank") wants to reduce the use of the U.S. dollar when it finances projects in developing countries. The head of the Shanghai-based lender, Dilma Rousseff, told the bank's annual meeting this week that the ...
The Uphill Journey to a BRICS Currency
The South African government announced in May that discussions around setting up a common currency will be on the agenda of the BRICS summit in August. Calls for the bloc, made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, to work together to boost non-dollar trade have ...
South Africa Urges Caution on BRICS Currency as Global Yuan Use Creeps Up
The BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) will discuss the feasibility of a joint currency at an upcoming summit in Johannesburg in August. Naledi Pandor, South Africa’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, acknowledged that scheduling the discussion was prompted by calls from member states to move away ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Awkward Timing as Italy Withdraws from BRI
China: Africa’s Debt Problems Due to “Dollar Hegemony”
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs introduced a new talking point aimed at countering accusations by U.S. legislators and other stakeholders that Beijing engages in predatory lending in Africa. For the first time on Friday, the Ministry referenced "dollar hegemony" ...
China’s Newest Talking Point on Debt: The U.S. Dollar is to Blame
As China faces increasing criticism around perceptions that it is holding up debt relief processes, its state media seems to be trying out new talking points in its messaging on the issue to Global South audiences, as seen in a recent article in the state-owned tabloid Global Times: ...
Getting Currency Swaps Right: How China is Filling the Void Left by the West
By Kevin Gallagher, Marina Zucker-Marques and Barbara Fritz A recent World Bank paper – widely echoed by financial outlets – has raised concerns about a supposed Chinese “emerging system of cross-border bailouts”, composed mostly of currency swap agreements. To the authors, Chinese swaps are opaque and costly, ...
China is Increasingly Determined to “De-Dollarize” Its International Trade
When Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim went to Malaysia's parliament this week to brief lawmakers on his recent trip to China, he emphasized his discussions with President Xi Jinping about transitioning away from relying solely on the U.S. dollar for trade. “There ...
Mixed Views in the Chinese Discourse About the Rise of the Yuan and Fall of the Dollar
A similar split of opinions exists in China as in the West between experts who see greater yuan internationalization economically and those who frame the issue in geopolitical terms. These differences of opinion are playing out this week across different Chinese ...