The Role of Offshore Financial Centers in the Process of Renminbi Internationalization

Meet the next global currency: the Chinese renminbi, or the “redback.” Following the global financial crisis of 2008, China’s major monetary policy objective is the internationalization of the renminbi, this is, to create an international role for its currency akin to the international role currently played by the U.S. dollar. Renminbi internationalization is a hot topic, for good reason. It is, essentially, a window onto the Chinese government’s aspirations and the larger process of economic and financial transformation. Making the renminbi a global currency requires rebalancing the Chinese economy, developing the country’s financial markets and opening them to the rest of the world, and moving to a more flexible exchange rate. In other words, the internationalization of the renminbi is a monetary and financial issue with much broader supra-monetary and financial implications. This book offers a new perspective on the larger issues of economic, financial, and institutional change in what will eventually be the world’s largest economy.