COVID fight to help stabilize trade growth

Chen Jia, a researcher at the International Monetary Institute of Beijing-based Renmin University of China, said once the impact of the epidemic diminishes, the country's key role in various spheres at the global level, and the resilience of its supply and industrial chains, will help stabilize the exchange rate of the Chinese yuan as well as exports.

Owing to short-term shocks, such as the resurgence in COVID-19 cases, the offshore RMB dropped sharply on Friday, slipping below 6.80 per dollar to a low of 6.82, also its weakest since September 2020.

Gao Shiwang, director of the Industry Development Department at the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products, said the depreciation of the RMB is good news for exporters settling sales in US dollars. But, its influence on overall Chinese exports is quite complicated, as many currencies have depreciated against the US dollar. This would mean the RMB may be relatively more expensive compared to some foreign currencies like the Japanese yen.

"Moreover, amid the weakening yuan, exporters may also face more requirements from clients on adjusting export prices," said Gao, adding even for exporters, the RMB staying within a reasonable range is far more preferable to its value dropping.

He suggested exporters should adopt more financial tools to hedge against the exchange rate risk.

Although the recent depreciation of the RMB has boosted the profit of Ningbo Sunlong Imp & Exp Co Ltd, a Zhejiang province-based garment exporter, it is vital for exporters to make a wise prediction and choose reliable banking institutions to properly carry out hedging and value-added business, in order to minimize the effect of exchange rate fluctuations on their business, said Wu Song, the company's general manager.

Last week, an official of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said China's huge trade surplus and foreign direct investment will provide stability to the RMB exchange rate as the overall performance of the Chinese currency is solid.

The latest RMB exchange rate pullback is a normal market reaction to a rise of the Chinese currency against the US dollar for a fairly long period since last year, the official said.