Podcasts about yukon huang

This week on the Sinica Podcast, I chat with Yawei Liu, Senior Advisor for China at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia, and Yukon Huang, former China country head of the World Bank and now Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The show was taped live at the 2025 Columbia China Summit at Columbia University, put on by the Columbia University Greater China Society, on April 13,. Special thanks to them for inviting us to attend!3:53 – Columbia University's history with China 7:52 – How Beijing views the current trade war 11:32 – Yawei's idea of “the clash of misperceptions”18:18 – The actual origins of America's trade deficits and China's trade surpluses 23:14 – How the inevitable talk between Trump and Xi Jinping may play out32:04 – Sinophobia versus changing attitudes toward China 35:43 – How the current trade war is related to innovation in China 45:31 – How we can wage peace Paying It Forward: Nicholas Zeller and his Substack newsletter, The U.S.-China Perception MonitorRecommendations:Yawei: Americans in China: Encounters with the People's Republic ed. by Terry Lautz, and Chinese Encounters with America: Journeys That Shaped the Future of China ed. by Terry Lautz and Deborah DavisYukon: David Brooks' April 2022 article, “The End of Globalization: The Dominance of Global Cultural Wars” Kaiser: The Weimar Years: Rise and Fall 1918-1933 by Frank McDonough See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Grandparents are both our past and our future. In some ways, they are what has gone before, and in others, they are what we will become. —Fred Rogers Hosts Julia and Keerthi talk about the superpowers of grandparents. They possess the unique ability to turn every mundane event into an epic adventure. Each one is a treasure trove of adventure, mystery, and, quite often, questionable fashion choices from their youth. They've seen it all—wars, moon landings, and the evolution of the telephone from rotary to touch. Keerthi's grandparents are Indian and don't speak English, so they couldn't be on the show today. But Keerthi shares how much she loves hanging out with them on their coconut farm when she visits India. One set of her grandparents is from the same village where Kamala Harris' mom grew up! Julia introduces us to her two amazing and accomplished grandpas. Yukon joined Julia and Keerthi for a lively discussion about how he came to America from China and became a renowned economist, not seeing China again until he became the World Bank's country director for China with an office in Beijing. His stories and advice will have listeners craving more. Unfortunately, Julia's grandfather on her dad's side was unable to come on the program but she interviewed him about his life earlier. Jonathan Howe is a retired four-star United States Navy admiral, who worked at the White House with Henry Kissinger and President Nixon. He was the Special Representative for Somalia to United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali. He met his future wife at age 13 and the rest is history. Both grandpas have Wikipedia pages. Yukon Huang: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukon_Huang Jonathan Howe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Howe This show honors grandparents everywhere! Grandparents are the heart of our history, the soul of our future. Celebrate your grandparents. Happy Grandparents Day! Follow us: https://www.starstyleradio.com/expressyourselfteenradio • https://www.facebook.com/ExpressYourselfTeenRadio/ • https://www.facebook.com/BTSYAcharity/ • https://www.instagram.com/expressyourselfradio/ Sign up for FREE Newsletter: https://cynthiabrian.substack.com/

The U.S. dollar's status as the global reserve currency is diminishing, which reduces the power that U.S. leaders have over the global economic system. In this episode, hear highlights from recent Congressional testimony during which financial elites examine the current status of the global financial system and what Congress is being told to do to address perceived threats to it (and to their own power). Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links Contribute monthly or a lump sum via PayPal Support Congressional Dish via Patreon (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank's online bill pay function to mail contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North, Number 4576, Crestview, FL 32536. Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! View the show notes on our website at https://congressionaldish.com/cd276-the-demise-of-dollar-dominance Background Sources Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes CD269: NDAA 2023/Plan Ecuador CD230: Pacific Deterrence Initiative CD195: Yemen CD187: Combating China CD102: The World Trade Organization: COOL? International Monetary Fund “IMF Financial Activities List 2023.” Updated June 21, 2023. International Monetary Fund. “Weekly Report on Key Financial Statistics.” June 9, 2023. International Monetary Fund. “IMF Lending.” Updated December 2022. International Monetary Fund. Argentina “Argentina: Letter of Intent, Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies, and Technical Memorandum of Understanding” October 17, 2018. International Monetary Fund. “Argentina Policy Memorandum.” January 11, 1999. International Monetary Fund. Ecuador “Ecuador—Supplementary Letter of Intent.” March 13, 2003. International Monetary Fund. Smaller Banks within the World Trade System International Finance Corporation China “Members and Observers.” World Trade Organization. “ China and the WTO.” World Trade Organization. “From ‘China Shock' to deglobalisation shock: China's WTO accession and US economic engagement 20 years on.” Stephen Kirchner. January 24, 2022. United States Studies Centre. “The China Reckoning: How Beijing Defied American Expectations.” Kurt M. Campbell and Ely Ratner. February 13, 2018. Foreign Affairs. The World Bank “Who can borrow from the World Bank?” December 10, 2020. Bretton Woods Observer. “Domination of the United States on the World Bank.” Eric Toussaint. April 2, 2020. Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt. “Why Is the World Bank Still Lending to China?” Yukon Huang. January 15, 2020. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Congressional Stock Trade Tracking Quiver Quantitative Unusual Whales US Abuse of Sanctions “The Other Counteroffensive to Save Ukraine.” Lawrence Summers et. al. June 15, 2023. Foreign Affairs. Allies Pivoting “Europe must resist pressure to become ‘America's followers,' says Macron.” Jamil Anderlini and Clea Caulcutt. April 9, 2023. Politico. “US State Dept backs latest raft of Saudi, UAE, Jordan arms sales.” February 2, 2022. Al Jazeera. Witnesses Mark Rosen on Linkedin Daniel F. Runde on Linkedin “Membership Roster.” Accessed June 24, 2023. Council on Foreign Relations. Tyler Goodspeed on Linkedin Carla Norrlof - “Board of Directors.” Atlantic Council. Daniel McDowell bio Marshall Billingslea on Linkedin Audio Sources Dollar Dominance: Preserving the U.S. Dollar's Status as the Global Reserve Currency June 7, 2023 House Financial Services Committee Watch on YouTube Witnesses: Dr. Tyler Goodspeed, Kleinheinz Fellow, Hoover Institution at Stanford University Dr. Michael Faulkender, Dean's Professor of Finance, Robert H. Smith School of Business at University of Maryland Dr. Daniel McDowell, Associate Professor, Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs at Syracuse University Marshall Billingslea, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute Dr. Carla Norrlöf, Senior Fellow, The Atlantic Council and Professor, University of Toronto Clips 34:05 Dr. Tyler Goodspeed: In 2022, as the Ranking Member highlighted, 88% of all foreign exchange transactions by value involved the United States Dollar, a figure that has been roughly constant since 1989, which is testament to the substantial path dependence in international currency usage due to large positive network externalities. As the Ranking Member also highlighted, 59% of all official foreign exchange reserves were held in US dollars, which is down from a figure of 71.5% in 2001. By comparison 31% of all foreign exchange transactions by value involve the Euro, which is the second most commonly transacted currency, which accounted for 20% of official foreign exchange reserves. 34:50 Dr. Tyler Goodspeed: The fact that 90% of all foreign exchange transactions continue to involve the United States dollar, and that global central banks continue to hold almost 60% of their foreign exchange reserves in US dollars confers net economic benefits on the United States economy. First, foreign demand for reserves of US dollars raises demand for dollar denominated securities, in particular United States Treasury's. This effectively lowers the cost of borrowing for US households, US companies, and federal, state and local governments. It also means that on average, the United States earns more on its investments in foreign assets than we have to pay on foreign investments in the United States, which allows the United States to import more goods and services than we export. Second, foreign demand for large reserves of US dollars and dollar denominated assets raises the value of the dollar and a stronger dollar benefits us consumers and businesses that are net importers of goods and services from abroad. Third, large reserve holdings of US currency abroad in effect constitutes an interest free loan to the United States worth about $10 to $20 billion per year. Fourth, the denomination of the majority of international transactions in US dollars likely modestly lowers the exchange rate risks faced by US companies. Fifth, the given the volume of foreign US dollar holdings and dollar denominated debt, monetary policy actions by foreign central banks generally have a smaller impact on financial conditions in the United States than actions by the United States Central Bank have on financial conditions in other countries. 36:40 Dr. Tyler Goodspeed: However, the benefits of the US dollar's global reserve status are not without costs. The lower interest rates in the United States benefit US borrowers, especially the federal government. They also lower returns to US savers. In addition, though a stronger dollar benefits US consumers and businesses that net import goods and services from abroad, it does also disadvantage US firms that export goods and services abroad as well as firms that compete against imported goods and services. Furthermore, the perception of the US dollar as a safe haven asset means that demand for the dollar tends to increase in response to adverse macroeconomic events that are global in nature. As a result, the competitiveness of US exporters and US firms that compete against imported goods and services are likely to face an increased competitive disadvantage at times of elevated global macroeconomic stress. 37:35 Dr. Tyler Goodspeed: However, despite these costs, studies generally find that the economic benefits of the dollar's prominent global status outweigh the costs, providing a modest net benefit to the United States economy. This does not include the substantial benefit to which the chairman referred of the United States dollar's centrality in global transactions, allowing the United States to utilize financial sanction tools when appropriate in support of national security objectives. 44:50 Dr. Daniel McDowell: With little more than the stroke of the President's pen or through an Act of Congress, the US government can use financial sanctions to impose enormous economic costs on targeted foreign actors, be they individuals, firms, or state institutions, by freezing their dollar assets or cutting them off from access to the banks through which those dollars flow. The consequences for individual targets, known as specially designated nationals or SDNs, are severe, significantly impairing targets capacity to participate in international trade, investment, debt repayment, and depriving them of access to their wealth. Over the last two decades, the United States has used the tool of financial sanctions with increasing frequency. For example, in the year 2000, just four foreign governments were directly targeted under a US Treasury Country Program overseen by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Today that number is greater than 20, and if we include penalties from secondary sanctions the list gets even longer. The more that the United States has reached for financial sanctions, the more it has made adversaries and foreign capitals aware of the strategic vulnerability that stems from dependence on the dollar. Some governments have responded by implementing anti-dollar policies measures that are designed to reduce an economy's reliance on the US currency for investment in cross-border transactions. But these measures sometimes fail to achieve their goals. Others have produced modest levels of de-dollarization. Notable examples here include Russian steps to cut its dollar reserves and reduce the use of the dollar and trade settlement in the years leading up to its full scale invasion of Ukraine, or China's ongoing efforts to build its own international payments network based on the Yuan, efforts that have taken on a new sense of urgency as Beijing has become more aware of its own strategic vulnerabilities from Dollar dependence. 47:05 Dr. Daniel McDowell: The United States should reconsider the use of so-called symbolic financial sanctions. That is, if the main objective of a tranche of sanctions is to signal to the world or to a domestic audience that Washington disapproves of a foreign government's policy choices, other measures that can send a similar signal but do not politicize the dollar system ought to be considered first. Second, the use of financial sanctions against issuers of potential rival currencies in particular, China and its Yuan should face a higher bar of scrutiny. Even a small targeted sanctions program provides information to our adversaries about their vulnerabilities, and gives them time to prepare for a future event when a broad US sanctions program may be called upon as part of a major security crisis, when such measures will be most needed. Finally, whenever possible, US financial sanctions should be coordinated with our allies in Europe and Asia, who should feel as if they are key stakeholders in the dollar system and not vassals to it. Such coordinated efforts will prevent our friends from seeking to conduct business with U.S. adversaries outside of the dollar system and send a message to the whole world that moving activities into secondary currencies, like the Euro or the Yen, is not a safe haven. 48:35 Marshall Billingslea: I'll say at the outset that I agree with you and others that to paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the dollar's demise have been greatly exaggerated. That said, we need to remind ourselves that in the 16th century the Spanish silver dollar was the dominant currency, in the 17th century it was Dutch florins, in the 18th century it was the pound sterling. The link between a nation's currency and its role as the relatively dominant political actor on the world stage is pretty clear. And that is why people like Lula from Brazil, Putin and Xi all aspire to undercut the role of the dollar as the global reserve currency. 50:00 Marshall Billingslea: If we look at what Russia did in the run-up to its further invasion of Ukraine, they began dumping ownership of treasury bonds in 2018. In that year, they plummeted from $96 billion and holdings down to $15 billion and they also started buying large amounts of gold. China is now, as the Ranking Member has observed, embarking on its own its own gold buying spree. I haven't seen the data for May, but April marked the sixth straight month of Chinese expansion in its gold holdings, and I'm not sure I believe the official figures. We have to recall that China is the dominant gold mining player around the world and half of those gold mining companies are state-owned. So the actual size of China's war chest when it comes to gold reserves may be far higher. In fact, I suspect inevitably far higher than official numbers suggest. Last year China also started dumping its treasuries. 2022 marked the largest or second largest decrease on record, with a drop of about $174 billion, and China stood at the lowest level since 2010. In terms of its holdings, though, this past March they did reverse course. This bears close watching because a sell-off may be a strong indicator of planned aggression. 51:20 Marshall Billingslea: The sheer size of the Chinese economy dwarfs what we've been contending with in the form of Iran, Russia, and so on. And one of the first things that the Biden administration did in the wake of Russia's attack was start sanctioning Russian banks and de-SWIFTing them. That's one thing when you're going after an economy smaller than the size of Texas; it's quite another when you consider that out of the 100 largest banks in the world, China has 20, and all four of the top four are Chinese banks. And that is why many within the Treasury contended when I was there, and they will contend to this day, that these Chinese banks are simply too big to sanction. I don't agree that we can allow that to stand but I do believe we have to start taking very swift action to put us in a situation where we could take punitive measures on these banks if necessary. 54:10 Dr. Carla Norrlöf: I will note that the Dollar's dominance is not quite as strong amongst private actors and private markets as it is with governments. In private transactions, it averages about 45% of the world's total. That includes FX transactions, but also things like issuance of international debt, securities, and cross-border banking. 54:55 Dr. Carla Norrlöf: The Chinese Yuan poses no immediate threat to dollar dominance. It accounts for roughly 3% of overall reserves. So far China has been successful in promoting the Yuan with its trade partners, but the Yuan is scarcely used by countries outside trade with China. China is a potential long term challenger due to its active pursuit of trade and investment relationships. If the Yuan is increasingly used by third countries, it will pose a greater threat to the dollar. 55:30 Dr. Carla Norrlöf: And in addition to these external threats, there is also a domestic threat. Flirting with the possibility of a voluntary default puts dollar dominance at risk. What should the US do to maintain dominance, to curb the domestic threat? Congress should consider creating an alternative mechanism for resolving political differences on government spending and its consequences. 56:00 Dr. Carla Norrlöf: To rein in external threats the United States should, whenever possible, implement multilateral sanctions in support of broadly endorsed goals to shore up the liberal international order. This is likely to limit dollar backlash. 59:40 Marshall Billingslea: The thing I do worry -- I come back to this fact that they've been buying a lot of gold -- that one of the things that they could do, which would be very concerning, if they wind up having larger reserves of gold than we believe, is they could start issuing Yuan or gold denominated, gold-backed Yuan contracts and that would further their ambition for introducing the Yuan onto the world stage. 1:05:00 Marshall Billingslea: China considers the actual composition of its foreign exchange reserves to be a state secret. So they don't publish and they they view it as a criminal offense to try to obtain that information in terms of the balance of how much is gold, how much Dollar or Euro denominated. But the numbers I've seen suggest that still at this moment, about 50% to 60% of their Foreign Exchange reserves are still in Dollars or Euros, which means that they are at high risk of sanctions; we can affect them. The problem is that that war chest that they've built up is enormous. It's more than $3 trillion that they have in Foreign Exchange reserves. Compare that with what Russia had at the onset of its assault, which was around $680 billion, of which we managed to freeze overseas half of it, but Russia is still keeping its economy going despite the Biden administration sanctions. So imagine how they're going to be able to continue with that sizable war kitty in Beijing if they do decide to go after the Taiwanese. 1:09:00 Dr. Tyler Goodspeed: Short term I think the risk is that we continue to see diversification away from the dollar, PRC continuing to push other countries to use trade inverse invoicing and Renminbi, that they continue to promote the offshore Renminbi market, that they continue to promote or force bilateral clearing. Longer term, I think the bigger risk is that foreign investors no longer perceive the United States federal government debt to be as safe and risk free as it is today perceived. 1:41:20 Dr. Daniel McDowell: The demonstration of US control over the actual flow of dollars, of communication, absolutely provides information to adversaries to prepare for events where they may face similar circumstances. And so I think what we're seeing is China, we're seeing Russia, we're seeing other countries try to create alternative payments networks. Russia has its own SPFS payment messaging system. It's quite small. It was launched in 2014, not coincidentally, after the initial round of sanctions targeting Russia. In terms of CIPS, China's cross border payments network, Belarus announced it was having banks join immediately following the 2022 sanctions. So what I'm saying is there's a pattern between when the United States mobilizes control over the pipes and the messaging of cross-border payments and adversaries looking for alternatives. It doesn't mean they're using them, but they're getting plugged into the system as at least sort of a rainy day option in the event of a future targeting. 1:45:35 Dr. Daniel McDowell: I look at China not just as a typical country, because I think they're an alternative service provider. Most countries fall into alternative service users; they're looking for an alternative to the dollar. China, you could perhaps put Europe in this as well, are the only two sort of economic BLOCs capable, I think, of constructing an attractive enough cross-border payments network that could attract those alternative service users that are looking for that network. And so that's why I think again, with China, there should be a higher bar of scrutiny. 2:02:20 Dr. Tyler Goodspeed: As deficits mount and as the debt burden rises above 100%, I think the Congressional Budget Office has it ending the budget window at about 119% of our economy, then we will probably observe an acceleration of diversification away from the dollar as a hedge. Again, I don't see another single currency displacing the dollar as the major international currency or as the major reserve currency, but continued diversification. International Financial Institutions in an Era of Great Power Competition May 25, 2023 House Financial Services Committee Watch on YouTube Witnesses: Jesse M. Schreger, Associate Professor of Business, Columbia Business School Mark Rosen, Partner, Advection Growth Capital and former Acting Executive Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Daniel F. Runde, Senior Vice President, Center for Strategic & International Studies(CSIS) Rich Powell, Chief Executive Officer, ClearPath & ClearPath Action Daouda Sembene, Distinguished Nonresident Fellow, CGD and CEO, AfriCatalyst Clips 39:55 Mark Rosen: The IMF is the global lender of last resort to countries that are in economic distress. IMF borrowers usually have a balance of payments problem, are running out of foreign exchange reserves, and so cannot meet their obligations. The IMF negotiates a set of economic policies with the borrower in government to alleviate the crisis, and, conditional on the government implementing the agreed policies, provides a loan in tranches, normally over a three year period. 41:00 Mark Rosen: The biggest challenge the IMF faces today is China which, as we've heard, has lent vast sums to emerging market and low income countries in a non-transparent and irresponsible manner. Many IMF members are now struggling to repay China. 42:05 Mark Rosen: The United States is the largest shareholder in the IMF and has veto power over certain key decisions and it's critical that the US continues to maintain its ownership of more than 15% which enables it to have this veto power. 42:20 Mark Rosen: China for some time, has been pressing for an increased quota share at the IMF. However, given its irresponsible lending, and then willingness to provide debt relief to developing countries, this is not the time to reward China with increased ownership at the Fund. Two other issues I'd like to focus on are anti-corruption and the catalytic role of the private sector in the work of the IMF. Corruption is a severe problem for many emerging market countries, which do not have strong institutions that can confront and root out corruption. The IMF is certainly doing a much better job than it did historically on anti-corruption, but I believe it's critical that it continues to make anti corruption laws and policies front and center in the conditions of its lending programs, as well as a focus of its technical assistance. Only by reducing corruption will many of these countries be able to attract the vast amount of private sector investment which is potentially available and remains the ultimate key to reducing poverty. Establishing a rule of law, including laws to protect private property is key to unlocking this investment. And it should be a focus of the IMF and World Bank to encourage these countries to improve the rule of law and to fight corruption. If they do that, emerging market countries can attract private capital and grow rapidly as many countries that have followed that path have already done so successfully. 44:45 Daniel Runde: Multilateral development banks, MDBs, under US and Western leadership are one way that we can respond with something. The United States built and strengthened the MDB system. MDBs provide money, advice, data and convening power to help developing countries solve problems. If the US exerts its influence over these institutions, they are forced multipliers of a US-led global system. If we disregard our leadership role, then other actors, including China, can exert influence over them. The World Bank Group is a series of institutions: it lends money to national governments, it has a private sector arm, and has an insurance arm. There are a series of other regional development bank's including the InterAmerican Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank -- Taiwan is a member of the Asian Development Bank -- the African Development Bank and the EBRD, the European Bank for Reconstruction Development Bank, focused mainly on countries that used to be behind the Iron Curtain. The United States has been instrumental in creating the majority of these institutions and remains the largest, or one of the largest, shareholders of every afformentioned MDB. Since the founding of these institutions, the US has used its shareholding power to shape the policies and activities of MDBs in indirect support of American foreign policy. 47:10 Daniel Runde: What role does China play in the MDBs? They're a shareholder. China continues to borrow from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. That is crazy. That needs to stop. China is a shareholder. Also, Chinese firms can bid on MDB projects. China wins a lot of in terms of dollar value, a lot of the dollar value of World Bank contracts. Something to take a look at. 47:35 Daniel Runde: How does the Belt and Road figure into the MDBs? You all have heard of the Belt and Road. Infrastructure is now a strategic issue. China's Belt and Road Initiative is a combination of construction and financing projects for roads, airports, and energy around the world. Unfortunately for us, BRI is an ambitious project that speaks to the hopes of China's friends and potential friends. To counter the BRI, the US needs a positive alternative that says more than, "Don't work with China." Right? That's not a strategy. We've got to have an alternative. 1:12:50 Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY): How do we end China's eligibility to borrow from the World Bank? Daniel Runde: The Asian Development Bank has said they're going to end their eligibility by 2025. We should absolutely hold them to that. There is a temptation for the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to continue to loan for a couple of reasons. One is they say, "Well, this is a window into how we can understand China better." There's lots of other ways to understand China better. And or this is a way for us to -- for a bunch of lending reasons that they do it. You all have the power of the purse, you have an ability, I think you should have blunted conversations with the administration about this. I suspect it's an open door, but it's going to require, I think, some pushing from Congress. I would encourage this committee to push the administration on ending lending to China. 1:14:30 Jesse Schreger: So fundamentally right now, the Renminbi is not yet positioned to compete with the US dollar for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the reason that the dollar plays the role it does in the international financial system is it provides the global safe asset. You're confident, except for the upcoming debt ceiling, that you will always be paid back if you own US dollars. That's fundamentally what you know. When you contemplate investing in China and holding Chinese Renminbi as reserves, you're not necessarily sure that you're gonna be able to turn that piece of paper into the goods and services that you need or intervening in FX markets. 1:21:15 Jesse Schreger: First and foremost, what China is trying to do is essentially convince countries around the world that the Renminbi is an alternative asset to invoice your trade and to invest in. And so on the investment side, they've been working very hard to actually allow in foreign capital, encouraging foreign central banks to hold Renminbi denominated bonds as their reserves. And on the trade side, they're encouraging firms to invoice, basically price their goods, in Renminbi. There's a few areas in which they've had challenges there. So first, we actually don't know who are holding most of these Renminbi denominated assets. What you can see is after the US sanctioned Russia back in 2014, it was the Russian Central Bank that effectively announced they were moving out of US dollar denominated assets and into Renminbi, so they did that publicly. And so China has effectively been trying to attract foreign capital of that form and a lot of the reasons for that is that China finds itself vulnerable in the dollar-based financial system. And so what I would say the fundamental area in which the United States can assure the dominance of the dollar is making everyone understand that US Treasuries are the world's safe asset that there is no state of the world in which the United States can or will default. 2:03:25 Jesse Schreger: I think the real way in which people start being able to issue and borrow in Renminbi is when people start thinking in terms of the goods that they need to buy and consume are in Renminbi. Fundamentally, most countries around the world, if they issue a bond in Renminbi, the calculation they have to do is then "okay, I'm going to take my renminbi and convert it into US dollars to buy the thing in which I need." And so while actions in the US financial system are certainly going to affect other countries decisions to borrow in Renminbi, the kind of underlying challenges in Chinese financial markets and fundamentally the lack of goods priced and sold in Renminbi are going to continue to hold back kind of a growth of this market for a while. And in particular, the fact that many countries are reluctant to try to raise money inside of China's liquid onshore capital markets for, effectively, fear of capital controls. If you've raised renminbi in China, you can't get that out and to your projects the way you can if you raise money in the US in dollars. 2:14:55 Daniel Runde: The business model of the World Bank is they lend money to richer countries with a pretty good credit rating and then they cross subsidize that by lending to poor countries with a poor credit rating. My view is, China can finance its own development, we should stop this practice. I think the Asian Development Bank has sort of gotten the memo, but the World Bank has not fully gotten the memo and they'll give you kind of World Bank-y answers to this sort of thing. We got to stop it. Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA): Mr. Runde, I could not agree with you more. And you highlighted earlier, you know, by 2025, China should graduate from this program. I'd offer that 25 is two years too late. We can start funneling them off that now. Daniel Runde: I agree, sir. Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA): I think you're in the right spot. Thank you. Music Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio) Editing Pro Podcast Solutions Production Assistance Clare Kuntz Balcer Cover photo Eric Prouzet on Unsplash

Last year, Chinese leader Xi Jinping gave his opening remarks for the 20th Party Congress, where he is poised to secure a norm-breaking third term. In his speech, President Xi called national security the “foundation of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” and urged enhancing security across all aspects of China's power, including economic and defense. Outside the Great Hall of the People, he is, however, facing criticisms over his Zero Covid policies and their impact on the second-largest economy. How should we interpret the results of the 20th Party Congress? What are some political, economic, and military opportunities and constraints that will shape Xi Jinping's future leadership? Join us for a discussion where we will discuss these questions and more with Dr. Yukon Huang, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Former World Bank's Country Director for China; Dr. Ling Li, Visiting Professor at the University of Vienna; and Dr. Joel Wuthnow, Senior Research fellow in the Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs at the National Defense University.Follow us at:Network2020.orgTwitter: @Network2020LinkedIn: Network 20/20Facebook: @network2020Instagram: @network_2020"Sunrise Expedition" by Joseph McDade"Image" by Infractionhttps://bit.ly/3n8XQiJMusic promoted by Inaudio: http://bit.ly/3qxoX6UFollow us at:Network2020.orgTwitter: @Network2020LinkedIn: Network 20/20Facebook: @network2020Instagram: @network_2020

On March 5th, Chinese outgoing Premier Li Keqiang opened the National People's Congress meeting with his annual Work Report and revealed a growth target of “around 5%”, the lowest since 1976. For decades, the country had expanded by more than 10% annually. Even though China missed its target last year by a wide margin due to its zero-Covid policy, not many people expected this low of a target from Xi Jinping's government. What kind of economic policy will China need to adopt to revive its economy, and where is the future of the U.S-China economic relationship? Join us for a conversation with Dr. Yukon Huang, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Former Work Bank's country director for China on Tuesday, This is the second of Network 20/20's Deep Dives: China program.Follow us at:Network2020.orgTwitter: @Network2020LinkedIn: Network 20/20Facebook: @network2020Instagram: @network_2020"Image" by Infractionhttps://bit.ly/3n8XQiJMusic promoted by Inaudio: http://bit.ly/3qxoX6UFollow us at:Network2020.orgTwitter: @Network2020LinkedIn: Network 20/20Facebook: @network2020Instagram: @network_2020

Despite the range of policy differences between Presidents Trump and Biden, both administrations see China as a strategic threat and great-power rival. It explains why, after nine months in the White House, there has been no sign that Biden is preparing to quickly abandon the use of Trump's signature tariffs. What are the underlying assumptions about China and its economic role driving Washington's decisions and are they correct? How should the Biden administration approach U.S. trade policy toward China under the Biden administration? Join us in a special briefing, which is a part of our Deep Dives: China 2021 program, when Dr. Yukon Huang, Senior Fellow in the Carnegie Asia Program; Former World Bank Country Director for China, Russia, and the former Soviet Union Republics will discuss these questions.---This Virtual Briefing Series event was originally hosted on  October 15th, 2021.Music by Joseph McDade.Deep Dives: China program: https://network2020.org/deep-dives-ch...Upcoming events: https://network2020.org/upcoming-events/Follow us at:Twitter: @Network2020LinkedIn: Network 20/20Facebook: @network2020Instagram: @network_2020Follow us at:Network2020.orgTwitter: @Network2020LinkedIn: Network 20/20Facebook: @network2020Instagram: @network_2020

 One of the few Trump administration policies that President Joe Biden has kept in place is a tough approach toward China. For one, Trump's tariffs are still in place. But China's recent military demonstrations against Taiwan haven't helped ease tensions. What does the future hold for US-China relations? Yukon Huang, a senior fellow in the Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, joins us to share his insights. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Photo:  Beijing, China (Feb. 26, 2004) Sailors and Marines from Commander Seventh Fleet and USS Blue Ridge tour the Great Wall of China during a Blue Ridge Morale Welfare and Recreation (MWR) sponsored tour of Beijing, China. Blue Ridge, the command ship of U.S. Seventh Fleet, arrived in Shanghai, China on a Feb. 24th for a routine port visit. While in Shanghai, Sailors and Marines from the ship and embarked staff took in the local culture and interacted with their counterparts from the People's Liberation Army (Navy).  U.S. Navy photo by Journalist 3rd Class Seth J. Bauer.  Can the EU arbitrate US vs PRC? Yukon Huang, CEIP . #YukonHuang The U.S.-China Trade War Has Become a Cold War - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/09/16/u.s.-china-trade-war-has-become-cold-war-pub-85352

 Just World Educational's President, Helena Cobban, hosts the second session of the groundbreaking “US-China public dialogue” that JWE is holding in collaboration with the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University in Beijing. This dialogue session features two great specialists who discuss some of the currently contested issues in the trade, investment, technology, and other aspects of the two countries' relations.The featured experts are:Dr. Yukon Huang, a senior fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Dr. Huang was formerly the World Bank's country director for China and, before that, director for Russia. Dr. Huang is an adviser to the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and various governments and corporations. His latest book was Cracking the China Conundrum: Why Conventional Economic Wisdom Is Wrong (Oxford U.P., 2017).Mr. He Weiwen, a Senior Fellow with the Chongyang Institute and Vice Chairman of the Global Alliance of SMEs. Mr. He worked as Economic and Commercial Counselor in the Chinese Consulates General in San Francisco and New York, 1997-2003. He is the author of three books and 200 articles on economic and trade affairs.The full video of this conversation and the full video, audio, and transcript of the earlier dialogue session on security affairs are posted along with many related materials at this page on the Just World Ed website.Support the show (http://justworldeducational.org/donate/)

In the next two episodes of our series Rethinking Asia, we look at the issue of China’s rising debt. In this first interview, we spoke with Yukon Huang, a senior fellow with the Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. A renowned expert on China’s economy and its global impact, Yukon formerly served as the World Bank’s country director for China. Yukon walked us through the recent growth and composition of China’s debt, and why he is more worried about the structural issues behind the debt than the overall level. He also highlighted several important distinctions, such as the large role of shadow banking and the property market, that make China’s debt situation different compared to that of most emerging markets. Some of Yukon’s main takeaways include: While China’s total debt-to-GDP ratio has rapidly increased about 100 percentage points since the Global Financial Crisis, the level of debt is reasonable for an economy of its structure and nature. The surge in debt levels is partly driven by the increasing prices of property-related assets in a country whose private property market only emerged roughly 15 years ago. The primary issue surrounding the surge in debt in China is more of a structural fiscal issue than a financial one: without sufficient tax revenues, local governments use land as collateral and borrow through opaque shadow banking activities to meet obligations. Unlike other debt-fueled emerging market expansions, the bulk of China’s debt is denominated in its local currency and China’s big state-owned banks steer too much funding into infrastructure at the expense of the private sector. A balanced approach by Chinese policymakers to financial sector deleveraging will restrict speculative shadow lending while ensuring private firms and local governments can access credit for innovative projects and public services. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco or of the Federal Reserve System.

In international trade, many experts believe that China has not played by the rules. But tit-for-tat tariffs, while justified, harm American consumers and producers. Is the tension between the US and China simply about trade, or is it a battle for global economic supremacy? Yukon Huang is in conversation with WorldAffairs co-host Markos Kounalakis. We want to hear from you! Please take part in a quick survey to tell us how we can improve our podcast: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PWZ7KMW

In the latest Rising Powers and Interdependent Futures podcast series, BBC Hardtalk’s Stephen Sackur interviews Yukon Huang, a former director World Bank Director for China and Russia. They discuss China’s economic prospects and its role in galvanising international action on climate change. How do other members of the BRICs view China and will the Belt and Road initiative upset the current geo-political balance? This weekly podcast mini-series explores the issues and implications of the Rising Powers and Interdependent Futures research programme.

Yukon Huang thinks that China’s economy is extremely unconventional. Unsurprisingly, then, that nearly all the conventional economic wisdom we hear about this economy — particularly the two hugely popular poles of opinion that treat it as either an unstoppable force or a crisis-in-waiting — is wrong. So goes the contrarian take of the former World Bank Director for China and Russia, who is now Senior Fellow in the Asia Program at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Huang detailed his thoughts on China’s economy is his most recent book, Cracking the China Conundrum: Why Conventional Economic Wisdom Is Wrong. http://supchina.com/2017/10/24/cracking-the-china-conundrum-makes-bold-claims/ He sat down with Jeremy and Kaiser at SupChina’s NEXT CHINA Conference on January 17, and in this live podcast, answered provocative questions and defended surprising statements:  "Why is it that people think China's unbalanced growth is a risk, when it actually is a positive development?" "Why do people think [China] has a debt problem, when actually it's a sign of financial deepening?" "Why is it that corruption is seen as an impediment to growth, when in China actually it's been a booster to growth?" "We assume that the more innovative you are as a country, the faster you grow, when actually it's the opposite." Recommendations: Jeremy: The China Questions: Critical Insights into a Rising Power, a fantastic collection of essays by scholars at Harvard University’s Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, edited by Jennifer Rudolph and Michael Szonyi. And radiooooo.com, a site you should definitely check out if you are a music lover. Yukon: The recent movie Hidden Figures, about black women mathematicians who worked for NASA in the 1960s. Kaiser: A two-part documentary on Channel NewsAsia called China on Film, a collection of the earliest footage ever shot in China, dating back to the last years of the Qing Dynasty.  

China’s rapid growth and transition towards a more market-oriented economic system have encouraged spectators to predict massive changes to the Chinese political and social system. However, while growth is slowing, the economy remains sound and the Chinese Communist Party emerged from the 19th Party Congress with its strongest leader in years. What makes experts forecast again and again that China is on the verge of collapse? Yukon Huang, former Country Director for China at the World Bank, cuts through the myths and joins us to discuss his new book, "Cracking the China Conundrum: Why Conventional Economic Wisdom is Wrong." His in-depth analysis explores the varied dynamics at play in China’s economic growth today and sheds light on why so many China watchers have gotten it wrong. SPEAKER: Yukon Huang Senior Fellow, Asia Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace MODERATOR: N. Bruce Pickering Vice President of Global Programs, Asia Society and Executive Director, Asia Society Northern California, Asia Society We want to hear from you! Please take part in a quick survey to tell us how we can improve our podcast: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PWZ7KMW

Welcome to the 26th installment of the Caixin-Sinica Business Brief, a weekly podcast that brings you the most important business stories of the week from China's top source for business and financial news. Produced by Kaiser Kuo of our Sinica Podcast, it features a business news roundup, plus conversations with Caixin reporters and editors. This week, we take a look at China's latest economic data on GDP growth in the July-September period. We delve into the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party, which kicked off last week with a three-hour, 23-minute speech by Party chief Xi Jinping. We learn why Yukon Huang, the World Bank's former country director for China, defended the organization's lending to Chinese governments. We study the feud between Apple and chip supplier Qualcomm about patent infringement. We explore the news that Wu Aiying 吴爱英, former Minister of Justice, has been expelled from the Communist Party of China. In addition, we talk to Caixin reporter Poornima Weerasekara about the narrowing wealth gap between China's cities and countryside. We also speak with Caixin senior editor Doug Young about the company Qudian, which made its first public filing for a New York IPO last week, the recent closure of many golf courses in China, and the long-running battle between Qualcomm and Apple in Chinese courts. We'd love to hear your feedback on this product. Please send any comments and suggestions to sinica@supchina.com.  

Despite intense scrutiny and analysis surrounding China’s economy, there is still no consensus on how best to understand China’s increasingly complex markets. How should we view China’s economy and what are key indicators for its future development? In this podcast, Paul Haenle sat down with Carnegie Senior Fellow Yukon Huang to discuss his new book, Cracking the China Conundrum: Why Conventional Economic Wisdom Is Wrong and evaluate pressing issues in U.S.-China economic relations.

A positive relationship between the United States and China, the world’s two largest economies, is crucial for promoting global growth and development. The bilateral relationship, however, has become increasingly fraught by disagreements over what a “fair” economic relationship entails. In this podcast, Paul Haenle sat down with Carnegie Senior Fellow Yukon Huang to discuss major issues in U.S.-China economic relations. Yukon explained that many Americans incorrectly attribute the United States’ large trade deficit with China to bilateral issues, when trade is inherently a multilateral dynamic. Yukon noted other factors which drive the U.S. trade deficit with China, such as the diverging average savings rate per household in the two countries. In the coming years, Yukon predicted U.S. companies will continue to advocate for China to loosen restrictive investment barriers, especially in the service sector. While China recently indicated it is willing to further open up industries to foreign investment, it remains unclear when these changes will go into effect. Yukon argued that as China continues to develop, regional trade agreements like the former Trans-Pacific Partnership will help apply outside pressure for China to implement domestic reforms. In his view, a regional trade agreement is in in the interest of all parties.

Douglas H. Paal discusses key issues for the 2016 G20 Summit in Hangzhou, China, with Yukon Huang, senior associate in Carnegie's Asia program.

Confronted by the 2008 global financial crisis, China unleashed an unprecedented economic stimulus package that included rapid growth in credit from the state banking system to enterprises and local governments. No other developing country has amassed as much debt as quickly. And in other countries, large increases in debt have usually been followed by sharp growth slowdowns, and many ended in crisis. Is China’s debt bomb likely to explode? Is its decelerated growth rate still too rapid? Is there a cure for China’s debt addiction? Ruchir Sharma will answer these questions. Carnegie’s Yukon Huang will comment, and Vikram Nehru will moderate.

Carnegie economist Yukon Huang's answers to these three questions about China's economy will surprise you:Is China dealing with a debt crisis, or rather a property related financial deepening? Are China's debt problems a financial or fiscal issue? Is China's growth unbalanced, and is this unbalanced growth a vulnerability or benefit?

Audio recording of May 28, 2014 event at Carnegie DC with Carnegie-Tsinghua's Yan Xuetong and Sun Xuefeng, and Carnegie's Paul Haenle and Yukon Huang, moderated by George Perkovich on the state of U.S.-China relations.

In this episode of China Money Podcast, guest Yukon Huang, senior associate at Washington D.C.-based Carnegie Endowment and former World Bank China director, shares his observations on China's next leadership, the possibilities of any bold reforms and the Chinese economy's long-term trend in the coming decade. Listen to the full interview in the audio podcast, watch the shortened video version or read an excerpt. Q: China's economy has been growing at an average of over 10% for the past twenty years. No economy can grow that fast forever. Third quarter GDP was out at 7.4%. Do you think the turning point has finally arrived? A: Over twenty years, China has actually never grown lower than 7.8% for the annual basis. So it's very likely that, of course, this year's growth is likely to be lower than anything that has been experienced over the last two decades. But over the last month, there are some positive signs. Investment seems to be responding, or picking up. Retail sales is a little bit better. The export picture improved a little bit. So, some would guess, and I think it's probably true, that some time over the next month or two, the economy will bottom out, and will actually turn upwards. But even a rebound will probably not lead to GDP growth next year much higher than 8%, because the global environment is still lackluster. Special thanks to China World Summit Wing for providing a great venue for this interview   Q: Does that mean China is going to enter a phase where lower economic growth is the norm? A: China's economy is a maturing economy, a middle-income economy. It's going to move to upper middle-income (economy). Ten or fifteen years from now, China will enter what you would call high-income (economy). You don't find high-income economies growing at 10%, or even 8%. A 5% or 6% is actually a very strong performance. Why should China want to grow at a higher rate? Ten years ago, China wanted to grow at 9% or 10% because it had a major employment concern. But China today is quite different. It's an aging society. The labor force is already shrinking. So China doesn't need to grow very fast to generate jobs, but to create better-paying jobs with higher value. So now, it is the quality of the growth that matters, not the quantity. Q: Do you see any chance that China might be growing at a rate much slower than 7%? A: It's possible. Growth is determined by consumption and investment. Consumption has been growing at about 8% to 8.5% a year. Combined with the government, it accounts for about half of the economy. Investment grew double digits in the past, but has slowed down. It could only grow by 5% or 6% in the future. Suppose it grows at 4%, for example, and consumption grows at 8%, essentially this economy will be growing at 6%, which is too low. So, the real trick is to continue to grow at 7% or 8% for another ten years. And then, I think we will see China's economic growth moving closer to 6%. But how do you grow at 7% or 8% for another ten years? The key is to increase productivity. China has been trying to improve productivity by innovation and technology. But these are generational changes, and can't occur in five or ten years. A more immediate method is to allow people greater mobility in moving around, or liberalize the Hukou system. Q: Next month, China will have a once-in-a-decade leadership transition. What are some key policy initiatives the new government should take on? A: The three choices that I would say are: 1, what is the role of the state in comparison of the role of the private sector; 2, what is the proper balance between banking and the fiscal budget; 3, the speed and pattern of urbanization in China. For the role of the state and the private sector, the question is not which one should dominate. The key is to create a fair playing field so that the two can compete. For the second issue, the national budget is too weak.