Why China's revaluation can't solve America's problems

US lawmakers are pressurising China to let the renminbi float freely against the dollar. But they're wrong to believe that this will help save America's economy. However, in the long run, a revalued renminbi is good news for the whole of Asia. Cris Sholto Heaton explains why.

There was plenty of excitement last week, when the People's Bank of China announced that the country would be restoring some flexibility to its exchange rate system, unpegging the renminbi from the dollar.

The renminbi was supposed to start rising immediately. Many Shanghai stocks jumped on the prospect of lower import costs.

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Cris Sholto Heaton

Cris Sholto Heaton is an investment analyst and writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2006 and was managing editor of the magazine between 2016 and 2018. He is especially interested in international investing, believing many investors still focus too much on their home markets and that it pays to take advantage of all the opportunities the world offers. He often writes about Asian equities, international income and global asset allocation.

Cris began his career in financial services consultancy at PwC and Lane Clark & Peacock, before an abrupt change of direction into oil, gas and energy at Petroleum Economist and Platts and subsequently into investment research and writing. In addition to his articles for MoneyWeek, he also works with a number of asset managers, consultancies and financial information providers.

He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and the Investment Management Certificate, as well as degrees in finance and mathematics. He has also studied acting, film-making and photography, and strongly suspects that an awareness of what makes a compelling story is just as important for understanding markets as any amount of qualifications.