With China feeling the pressure from large-scale inflows of short-term capital, the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) issued a notice early last month outlining a set of measures aimed at controlling “hot money” and reducing external risks. The new regulations are essential to managing the yuan’s rapid appreciation and ensuring the accuracy of trade data. However, will they be enough?
A variety of data indicate the massive scale of the inflows. In the first quarter of this year, Chinese banks’ foreign-exchange purchases skyrocketed to a record 1.2 trillion yuan (US$195 billion) — more than double last year’s total. Such purchases increased by about 294.3 billion yuan from March to April, which was the fifth consecutive month of growth.
Over the same period, China’s foreign-exchange reserves swelled by US$128 billion, to US$3.4 trillion — the largest quarterly increase since 2011 and equal to the total rise for last year. Given China’s US$43 billion trade surplus and US$30 billion in foreign investments during this period, capital inflows must have been a contributing factor.
Furthermore, since the beginning of this year, Chinese banks’ valet foreign-exchange settlement (foreign-exchange purchases that designated banks make for their clients and themselves) has outstripped corresponding sales, resulting in a consistently large surplus — also an indication of increased capital inflows. The difference, which banks offset through transactions in the inter-bank currency market, has a significant impact on China’s foreign-exchange reserves, but is not equivalent to the net change in foreign-exchange reserves during the same period.
According to SAFE, individuals and institutions exchanged US$152.2 billion in foreign currency for renminbi through Chinese banks in March, and purchased US$107.6 billion in foreign currency from financial institutions. As a result, the banks’ foreign-exchange surplus reached US$44.6 billion, rising 38 percent from February and marking the seventh consecutive month in which bank-to-client transactions created a surplus.
The consequences of abnormal capital flows into China are becoming increasingly apparent, particularly in foreign-exchange markets. Despite slowing GDP growth — currently only 7.7 percent annually — the renminbi has appreciated rapidly, reaching a record-high central parity of 6.2082 yuan against the US dollar at the beginning of last month.
With no sign of improved economic fundamentals, the rapid rise of the yuan must be related to substantial foreign-currency inflows. Since China’s current benchmark interest rate is higher than the comparable rate in the US, individuals and institutions have an incentive to keep renminbi as assets and dollars as debt.
The current round of monetary easing underway in many advanced countries, together with strong expectations of renminbi appreciation, are also fueling currency speculation, placing further upward pressure on the exchange rate.
The new SAFE regulations will attempt to curb this trend by imposing, for the first time, limits on net open positions held by Chinese banks with foreign-currency loan/deposit ratios (LDRs) exceeding 75 percent and by foreign banks with LDRs above 100 percent.
A higher foreign-currency LDR will mean tighter restrictions on long yuan positions. By providing an incentive for banks to hold more foreign-exchange deposits against their loans, the new rules will drive up the price of foreign-currency loans, thereby deterring firms from using US dollar loans to speculate on renminbi gains.
Although the regulations did not take effect until June 1, their impact was felt immediately. The yuan ended its upward trend against the US dollar on May 6, closing at 6.1667, down 112 basis points from the previous trading day — the steepest decline since December last year. On the same day, stricter controls on capital inflows caused the offshore renminbi to close at 6.1790 against the US dollar, down 0.4 percent — the largest drop since January last year. This suggests that the measures will succeed in stemming upward pressure on the yuan.
At the same time, the new regulations aim to end many firms’ practice of channeling capital into China disguised as trade bills. By inflating export deals in order to move foreign currency — mostly US dollars — into China, firms have evaded capital controls and distorted trade data. In order to transform the funds into renminbi outflows, the firms then increase the scale of renminbi settlements in cross-border trades. In March and April, cross-border yuan trade settlement increased by 412.8 billion yuan, up 57.6 percent year on year.
The growing discrepancies between foreign-trade data and port data have cast doubt on the reliability of the former. Last year, China’s exports grew by about 6.2 percent, and container throughput completed at China’s above-scale ports increased by 6.8 percent year on year.
By contrast, in the first quarter of this year, Chinese foreign trade increased to US$974.6 billion, reflecting a higher growth rate than last year, while Chinese ports completed 800 million tonnes of cargo throughput, representing a growth rate that was 4.2 percentage points lower than in the same period last year. In March, container traffic at China’s above-scale ports was 15.29 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), with month-on-month growth 1.7 percentage points slower than in the previous two months.
Clearly, trade data are being inflated as companies carry out fake transactions to bring capital into the country. Firms know that as long as the hot money can reach mainland banks through Hong Kong, they can expect risk-free yields of more than 2 percent. Considering the renminbi’s recent appreciation, the rate of return could reach 3 percent to 4 percent.
According to the new regulations, SAFE will issue a warning 10 days after finding that a firm’s capital flows do not match its physical shipments. Such firms will be more closely monitored for at least three months, until the relevant figures return to normal.
One can only hope that these measures will be sufficient to bring China’s export data gradually back to reality. At a minimum, the new measures are an important step toward improved management of cross-border capital flows, which is bound to benefit China’s economic transformation and restructuring significantly.
Zhang Monan is a fellow of the China Information Center, a fellow of the China Foundation for International Studies and a researcher at the China Macroeconomic Research Platform.
Copyright: Project Syndicate
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
The past few months have seen tremendous strides in India’s journey to develop a vibrant semiconductor and electronics ecosystem. The nation’s established prowess in information technology (IT) has earned it much-needed revenue and prestige across the globe. Now, through the convergence of engineering talent, supportive government policies, an expanding market and technologically adaptive entrepreneurship, India is striving to become part of global electronics and semiconductor supply chains. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vision of “Make in India” and “Design in India” has been the guiding force behind the government’s incentive schemes that span skilling, design, fabrication, assembly, testing and packaging, and
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.