> On Fri, Sep 17, 2010 at 10:47 PM, Marv Gandall <marvgandall at videotron.ca> wrote:
>
>> The U.S. Treasury secretary said China's move toward a flexible exchange rate was "too slow," but was reluctant to formally label Beijing a currency manipulator.
>
> To add the numbers: the yuan was pegged at 8.29 to the US dollar until 2005.
>
> Then they moved to an exchange rate based on a basket of currencies, still
> with tight controls to prevent overly rapid change. The Party are seriously
> averse to anything that might disrupt the economy or their System. China
> was not much affected by the meltdown in Asian currencies of the late 90s,
> but it definitely scared them. Avoiding that sort of thing here is a stated
> policy goal.
>
> The yuan went to 8.02 to the dollar the day they made that announcement,
> then appreciated quite slowly over the next couple of years. By the time of
> the US meltdown of 2008, it was at 6.84. They effectively froze it there
> and there was no significant change until a few months ago when they
> let it start moving again.
>
> Now it is at 6.72.
And 6.42 three months later. Graph at http://www.ratesfx.com/cgi-bin/dataview.pl?bc=USD&cc=CNY&t=52&l=en