Seldom does one issue define an era, but in the battle between the Chinese renminbi and the US dollar there is enough drama and politics to suggest it might do so. As the economic giants grapple for dominance of global trade, currencies are increasingly the language by which their power is expressed.
The dynamic, however, is not straightforward, because both China and the US want ostensibly the same thing, which is a stronger renminbi. The difference lies in timing, with policy-makers in Washington, DC, pushing for immediate appreciation and Chinese officials preferring to take the slow road, aiming for full internationalisation of the Chinese currency over the next 10 to 20 years.
