IMF approves yuan as a major world currency

The International Monetary Fund（IMF） Executive Board approved to include the Chinese currency RMB， or Yuan， into its Special Drawing Rights（SDR） basket， which won widespread applause.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde announced the decision on Monday noon after the vote by its executive board. She said the board decided that RMB met all existing criteria and， effective Oct 1， 2016， the RMB is determined to be a freely usable currency and will be included in the SDR basket as a fifth currency， along with the US dollar， the euro， the Japanese yen and the British pound.

She explained that the date of launching the new SDR basket next October is to provide sufficient lead time for the IMF， its members and other SDR users to adjust to these changes. Lagarde called the decision “an important milestone in the integration of the Chinese economy into the global financial system.”

“It is also a recognition of the progress that the Chinese authorities have made in the past years in reforming Chinas monetary and financial systems，”she said.

“The continuation and deepening of these efforts will bring about a more robust international monetary and financial system， which in turn will support the growth and stability of china and the global economy，” she added.

SDR is an international reserve asset created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement its member countries official reserves. SDRs are allocated to IMF members from time to time， based on each countrys quota in the IMF. A total of 204.1 billion SDRs have been allocated to date， most recently in 2009 when SDR 182.6 billion was allocated.

According to the Peoples Bank of China （PBOC）， the central bank， the inclusion of the RMB in the SDR basket will increase the representativeness and attractiveness of the SDR， and help improve the current international monetary system， which will benefit both China and the rest of the world. It also means that the international community expects China to play a bigger role in the international economic and financial system.

The PBOC said China will continue to deepen and accelerate economic reforms and financial opening up， and contribute to promoting world economic growth， safeguarding financial stability and improve global economic governance.

Eswar Prasad， a professor at Cornell University and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution， said the RMBs elevation to the club of elite global reserve currencies is a big step for China and a significant one for the international monetary system.endprint

“It is a historic moment in international finance for an emerging market economy， with a per capita income barely a quarter that of other reserve currency economies， to be anointed as the issuer of one of the worlds major reserve currencies，” said Prasad， a former IMF chief in China.

Prasad called the decision “an important validation of Chinas efforts over the past year to liberalize financial markets， open up its capital account， and allow its currencys value to be determined to a greater extent by market forces.”

“The IMFs positive decision will strengthen the hands of economic reformers in China and could help sustain momentum on financial sector liberalization and reforms. However， the domestic opposition to further financial sector reforms and market-oriented liberalization measures remains fierce， and this decision by itself is unlikely to shift the balance substantially，” he said.

China resumes place as New Zealands top export destination

China resumed its place as New Zealands top export destination in October， with growing demand for milk powder， meat and kiwifruit， the government statistics agency said on Nov. 26.

The resurgence of the China market helped to mitigate New Zealands rising trade deficit， which hit 963 million NZ dollars （635.39 million US dollars） last month， up from 892 million NZ dollars in October last year， according to Statistics New Zealand.

Total exports fell more than imports， as the falling demand and value of dairy products， New Zealands biggest export commodity， drove down total exports by 4.5 percent year on year to 3.8 billion NZ dollars.

Goods exports to China rose by 9.2 percent， or by 57 million NZ dollars， to move China ahead of Australia as the top annual export destination.

Goods exports to Australia fell by 8 percent， or 66 million NZ dollars， dragged down by crude oil.

China first became New Zealands top export destination in November 2013， but fell below Australia from March to September this year， international statistics senior manager Jason Attewell said.

China was now both the top export destination for goods， and the top source of imports.

Although milk powder exported to China fell 65 percent for the year ended October， it was still the largest commodity， while smaller exports such as beef and fruit had doubled in value in the past year.

“Since annual exports to China fell from their peak in 2014， exports to China and Australia have been around 8.4 billion NZ dollars each，” Attewell said in a statement.endprint

“Annual exports to Australia peaked in January 2012， but have been generally falling since， due to lower crude oil exports.”

2015 China Marine Economy Expo turnover reaches 31.2bln yuan

The 2015 China Marine Economy Expo （CMEE） came to an end in Zhanjiang on Nov 29， with more than 200，000 people visiting it and business and trade contract reaching 31.2 billion yuan （4.9 billion US dollars）.

A variety of activities including products launching， investment seminars， tourism promotion events， cooperation meetings and road shows were held during the Expo.

Compared with last years event， 2015 CMEE took place on a much larger scale in terms of the number of participating exhibitors， media organizations， visitors and business and trade deals.

About 1，000 foreign and domestic officials and guests attended the Expo. More than 2，100 organizations and exhibiting companies from 43 countries and regions took part in it.

The total exhibition area of this years Expo exceeded 200，000 square meters to house 2，633 booths， up 30 percent over last year.

Advanced high-tech equipment such as Jiaolong， Xuelong， the re-entry capsule of Shenzhou spaceship， space suit， unmanned aerial vehicles （UAV）， 3D printers and robots were on display during the Expo.

Some of the countries along the“Belt and Road” including the UK， France， Germany， Seychelles， Israel and Singapore showcased their achievements in marine economy. Many companies from South Korea， America， Canada， New Zealand and Australia came to the Expo for business opportunities.

This years Expo had additional tourism and culture area， international gourmet area and products exhibition area， which attracted many foreign exhibitors.

More than 38，000 professional visitors and sellers sought business opportunities and examined the investment environment and available projects in Zhanjiang during the Expo.

China plans internationally competitive agricultural firms

China will aim to establish a number of internationally competitive agricultural firms by 2020， according to the State Council.

It released a guideline on land reclamation reforms saying， “By restructuring reclamation areas and innovating in the operation mechanisms of farms， China aims to build a number of large-scale agricultural groups that are effectively managed and adaptable to the market economy.”

“The reforms on land reclamation are not only important to national food security and the development of modern agriculture， but are also crucial for China to compete with multinationals in the agricultural field，” said Han Changfu， Minister of Agriculture.endprint

The guideline also encouraged Chinese reclamation firms to step out of the country through establishing joint ventures with foreign firms or conducting mergers and acquisitions， and stressed the importance of introducing advanced technology and management mechanisms to domestic firms.

China has spent 20.36 billion yuan（3.2 billion US dollars） in 2015 developing modern agriculture， the Ministry of Finance said.

AIIB to lend up to $15b every year

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank， the new international development bank led by China， plans to lend 10 billion to 15 billion US dollars a year for the first five or six years， a top official said on Dec 1.

The new lender， which will be inaugurated later this month， plans to conduct its first board meeting next month and will support infrastructure development and connectivity in Asia， said Jin Liqun， the president-designate of the AIIB.

“The bank is neither a Chinese bank nor a bank owned by the Chinese government， but one owned by all participating countries，” said Jin.

Jin did not specify any priority projects for the AIIB or the countries that would be the beneficiaries of initial loans， but said around 30 countries are waiting in line for membership and this would increase the banks capital.

“There are 50 applicants in the fray for the position of deputy head of the AIIB，” said Jin， the former chairman of investment bank China International Capital Corp.

Urging European experts to join the lender， Jin said their services are necessary for the AIIB during the growth phase. Going forward， the AIIB will look to jointly fund infrastructure projects in Europe.

“The AIIB should not be limited to Asian countries， and it can only succeed if European and countries from other continents join，” said Jin.

Jin， however， said that the idea of having more members is not because Asia is not up to the job， but rather the emphasis that developed countries， particularly European countries， could share their experiences in running international institutions.

“It is crazy to reject any other countries in the world and not to seek advice in running the bank， and for European countries， joining the AIIB is an opportunity to do different things and do things differently，” Jin said.

The United Kingdom applied to join the AIIB as a founding member in March， and this has prompted more European countries to follow suit， he said.endprint

Suma Chakrabarti， president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development， said earlier that the AIIB has important implications for EBRD as the combined strength of the two could allow them to take on much larger projects.

EBRD said it is keenly eyeing opportunities to work closely with the AIIB.

According to Jin， the US dollar would be the operating currency of the AIIB for its convenience while the bank would also take into consideration financing requests in other currencies， including the yuan.

In response to doubts and skepticism about the creation of the AIIB and whether it will compete with existing institutions， Jin said each phase of development should have a new type of modern institution to meet the needs of that time， citing examples like the Asian Development Bank set up half a century ago.

Allaying concerns and the harsh， sometimes hostile comments on what China needs to do and whether it was necessary to set up the AIIB， Jin said there is no doubt that Asias infrastructure development will take off in the next 15 to 20 years.

“Its important to explore the possibilities of a new type of bank and a new approach to deal with the emerging economic and social development issues， as the backlog in Asias infrastructure development has contributed to a bottleneck in social development， climate change and other serious problems，” he said.

The bank has already initiated talks with other institutions， including the ADB and the World Bank， said Jin.

Cyril Muller， former director for banking and debt management in the World Bank Treasury， said in March during the Boao Forum for 2015 Asia Annual Conference that AIIB could learn from previous experience and cooperate with existing organizations.endprint