The Yuan vs. the U.S. Dollar

Over the last few years, the economy of China has grown at a considerably high rate averaged at nearly 10% annually. Due to this enormous growth, China now influences the economy of virtually every country all over the world. This is more apparent and frightening, considering the United States’ economic relationship with China. Until 2005, China pegged its currency to the U.S. dollar, but as from July 2005, it linked its currency to other currencies rather than dollars and let its currency appreciate by 2.1%. The central bank of China did this by buying and selling the dollar dominated assets in exchange of printed Yuan in order to eliminate excess supply or demand for the Yuan. Due to this, the exchange rate between the dollar and the Yuan, basically, remained constant irrespective of changes in economic factors which could have otherwise destabilized the Yuan relative to the dollar.
Since these reforms, China has continued manipulating its currency to its advantages, such as giving exporters an unfair trade advantage. This paper will provide an analysis of China’s Yuan against the U.S. dollar for the past 5 years ending in 2010. Also, the exchange-traded fund (ETF) of Yuan is discussed in depth.
Recently, the U.S. policymakers had been having debates over China’s currency policy. The policy adopted by China has been linked to the rapidly growing United States’ trade deficit with China and the decline of employment in the U.S. and the emergence of China as a major economic power. The U.S had been claiming that the Yuan is undervalued with respect to the dollar. Good indicators that the Yuan is considerably undervalued are the sharp increase in China’s foreign exchange reserves and its large trade surplus. China’s foreign exchange reserve grew from $403 billion in 2003 to $1.5 trillion in 2007, while its trade surplus totaled $178