Britain's decision to leave the European Union hardly left anyone unaffected. The parties involved (UK and EU), their allies and trading partners as well as sympathizers from all over the world – no one can say for sure what the consequences will be. The number of possible scenarios rises every day.
For example, Wei Jianguo, vice-director of the China Centre for International Economic Exchanges and a former vice-commerce minister, supposes that Brexit can make the Chinese yuan the world’s second most-traded currency. The expert is sure that it will only take five years. According to him, the referendum hit the pound sterling hard, but soon the currency resumed its growth. Wei does not believe that the pound’s depreciation would lead to the yuan’s drop, but on the contrary, the Chinese currency would spread more widely.
The yuan has joined the SDR currency basket on the initiative of the International Monetary Fund. Once on the list, the renminbi made up 10.29 percent of the basket taking the third place after the US dollar (41.73%) and the euro (30.93%). Given such a solid dynamic, there are valid grounds to agree with Wei Jianguo. The Chinese national currency has a fair chance to become the world’s second most-traded currency in the near term.
