What does the depreciation of the Chinese renminbi show?
The Chinese renminbi has depreciated 9% since April 2018. What can this depreciation show? Increased interest among domestic Chinese investors for assets in foreign currencies; capital outflows remain quite large, especially as regards financial capital; A deterioration in Chinese foreign trade, due to a decline in savings in relation to investment; this deterioration is slow thanks to the weakening of investment; Chinese authorities’ determination to let the renminbi depreciate without intervening through foreign exchange reserves . Foreign exchange reserve figures show that since the reserves are falling , the government is intervening to curb the depreciation of the RMB. Altogether, it seems that the depreciation of the RMB since April 2018 is primarily due to capital outflows, caused by the rise in dollar interest rates compared with renminbi interest rates.