In the postwar era, the multilateral development banks were created to facilitate global trade. Today, they are ‘America First’ targets.

China should be willing to loosen trade and investment restrictions if it seeks to play a leading role in globalization, International Monetary Fund First Deputy Managing Director David Lipton said.

China’s foreign business policy was carried out in a double track strategy: embracing globalization, while enhancing protectionism. This was key in order to develop China’s strength in certain industries— especially those that are already well-developed in western countries— in a less-competitive environment.

The current international monetary order is failing to provide the necessary tools to cope with episodes of capital flow volatility. In the short term, the BRICS countries should step in and take steps to address this issue. In the long run, they should seek to reform the monetary system and promote international financial stability.

China’s near-term economic outlook is being buoyed by policy support even as its medium-term prospects become more uncertain because of rapidly rising credit, excess industrial capacity and financial sector risks, the International Monetary Fund said.

China’s central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said the government will make efforts to expand the use of the International Monetary Fund’s basket of reserve currencies in its domestic economy.

The International Monetary Fund on Monday is adding the Chinese yuan to the basket of elite currencies comprising its lending reserve, marking a milestone in the country’s ascendancy as a global economic power.

The key legal framework for the China-initiated regional multilateral institution – the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) – was inked by representatives of the bank’s 57 founding members in Beijing last Monday. For China and the U.S., the AIIB is not about win-lose. A win-win result can be achieved if both sides are more open-minded.

SDR inclusion will mean an endorsement of the renminbi as an international reserve currency, and at the same time, the Chinese government will have the power and capacity to steer and manage the renminbi exchange rate.

AIIB is redefining global relationships in finance, in an attempt to break through the profit-driven nature of capital and meet more needs for infrastructure investment, writes Zhang Monan.