Russia’s Ties with China: Helping or Hindering the Yuan in Becoming an International Currency?

Topic

The "friendship without limits" between China and Russia, which the heads of state of the two countries still affirmed on the occasion of the Winter Olympics in China at the beginning of February 2022, has not lost its significance in the past year since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war, even if China has held back from its otherwise pro-Russia position. However, this "friendship" received a new boost with Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Russia in March 2023: Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, announced that in the future, all oil and gas transactions between Russia and China would be denominated in the Chinese yuan. Will this development help or hinder the Chinese yuan's path to becoming an international currency? What are the economic and financial challenges behind this yuan peg in oil and gas transactions between the two countries, especially for China? What is the geopolitical significance of this deepened partnership for China, Russia, and also for the West?  

Program

The event consists of different impulse lectures followed by a discussion.  

The Global China Conversation #23 will be held in English. 

Rolf Langhammer 

Prof. Dr. Rolf J. Langhammer was Vice-President of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy from October 1997 until August 2012 and Professor at the Kiel Institute. He retired from the Vice-Presidency on August 31, 2012, but continues to work at the Institute. From April 2003 to September 2004, he served as Acting President. From July 1995 to November 2005, he headed the Research Department "Development Economics and Global Integration" at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. Prof. Langhammer has served as a consultant to a number of international institutions (EU, World Bank, OECD, UNIDO, ADB), as well as to the German ministries of economic affairs and economic cooperation.  

Alicia García Herrero 

Alicia García Herrero is the Chief Economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis CIB. She is also a Director with the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation (CAPRI). Alicia serves as a Senior Fellow at the Brussels-based European think-tank BRUEGEL and a non-resident Senior Fellow at the East Asian Institute (EAI) of the National University Singapore (NUS). Alicia is also Adjunct Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Finally, Alicia is a Member of the Council of Advisors on Economic Affairs to the Spanish Government and an advisor to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s research arm (HKIMR), among other advisory and teaching positions.  

Alicia is very active in international media (such as BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, and CNN) as well as social media (LinkedIn and Twitter). As a recognition of her thought leadership, Alicia was included in the TOP Voices in Economy and Finance by LinkedIn in 2017 and #6 Top Social Media Leader by Refinitiv in 2020. 

Kandy Wong 

Kandy Wong is a correspondent for the Political Economy desk of the South China Morning Post, having earlier worked as a reporter on the Business desk. She focuses on China's trade relationships with the United States, the European Union, and Australia, as well as the Belt & Road Initiative and currency issues. She graduated from New York University with a master's degree in journalism in 2013. An award-winning journalist, she has worked in Hong Kong, China, and New York for the Hong Kong Economic Journal and the Financial Times, E&E News, Forbes, The Economist Intelligence Unit, Nikkei Asia, and Coconuts Media.