According to the article in AEIdeas dated March 30, China’s currency is back in the news.
Large volumes of money have left China since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, pressuring the yuan downward.
This is worth watching, but China has seen large capital outflows since 2014.
The issue is less short-term yuan weakness and more long-term broad financial weakness.
China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC) reported a goods trade surplus of $677 billion in 2021.
This is the most frequently cited trade figure, showing how much more economic activity China drew in than it supported elsewhere.
But it’s not very informative.
The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) is one of China’s more professional, if secretive, government bodies and its balance of payments accounting effectively dissects the goods trade surplus.
The State Administration of Foreign Exchange reports a 2021 current account goods surplus of $563 billion.
Current account goods balances usually differ from simple goods trade, but $114 billion vanishing says pay more attention to the smaller number.
https://youtu.be/y9r-RATx0kA
