For those frustrated by slow progress towards freeing up China’s tightly controlled currency, recent days provide an illustration of why authorities are determined to proceed with caution.
Emerging market currencies hit a 14-year low against the dollar this week, hit by concerns about rising debt and slowing exports in emerging markets.
Yet amid the turmoil the renminbi has been a relative bastion of stability. Even as the currency hit its weakest level against the dollar in four months on Tuesday at Rmb6.21, it was only a modest 1.6 per cent weaker than the seven-month high touched on October 31. By contrast, the JPMorgan Emerging Markets Currency Index fell 5 per cent over the same period.