By Benard Ayieko
It is without doubt that China is an emerging superpower. China’s rising political and economic power is evident in all aspects of the global economy. It’s playing a critical role in shaping the world’s development agenda.
This is manifested in China’s own agenda in G20, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the monetary and financial system, international trade and investment policies including those policies aimed at internationalisation of the Chinese yuan — renminbi — its official currency.
Previously rated the second largest economy in the world by the Bretton Woods institutions, the Chinese economy is currently surging to the apex of the world economy.
The Chinese growing influence and the increase in Sino-African relations has brought to the fore a debate on the African countries’ need to adopt the renminbi as a reserve currency – a currency that a country holds in significant quantities as part of their foreign exchange reserves for use in international transactions and investments.
China has made a very conscious and well-thought-through choice. How? Two years ago — just seven months after being re-elected into office as President — Xi Jinping quipped, “China must take center stage in the world through promoting globalization, boosting foreign trade, developing advanced technologies and ‘internationalizing’ the renminbi.”…
