Economy

China should decide RMB's future: economist

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-04-16 17:23

BEIJING - Whether to make China's renminbi (RMB) currency appreciate or not should only be decided by the Chinese themselves, a renowned Chinese economist said in a discussion held in Peking University.

"I am not partial to Chinese, but the problems relating to China should only depend on Chinese," said Steven Cheung, who specializes in the fields of transaction costs and property rights and is known for an economic analysis on China's opening-up policy.

In his discussion with students and faculty of Peking University's Guanghua School of Management, Cheung predicted that the RMB's internationalization would be China's final choice -- a choice which is also essential to the future of the Chinese financial sector.

Considering its large population and lack of natural sources, China's current economic system is quite efficient, he said.

As to the financial crisis, Cheung said the cause was defects in the financial system.

According to Cheung, the financial system of the developed countries was full of flaws, with excessive innovation on derivatives that turned out to be quite risky and the lack of regulation on rating agencies, which would ultimately lead to international turmoil.

China should learn from the mistakes of those countries, Cheung said.