Who cares about the Chinese Yuan?

The rise of China in the world economy and in international trade has raised the possibility of a rise of the Yuan as an international currency, particularly after the Chinese authorities have undertaken policy initiatives such as Yuan settlement and Yuan swap lines. In this paper, we measure one dimension of Yuan internationalisation: the role of the Yuan in the exchange rate arrangements of other economies. While the magnitudes are small, our findings show that as many as 34 currencies in the world have been sensitive to movements in the Yuan. This suggests that the Yuan potentially has a significant role to play in global exchange rate arrangements. Contrary to popular belief, however, we find a limited role of the Yuan among Asian. economies.Renminbi ; Yuan ; Exchange rate regime ; Internationalisation ; East Asia

A Conversation with Yuan Shih Chow

Yuan Shih Chow was born in Hubei province in China, on September 1, 1924. The eldest child of a local militia and political leader, he grew up in war and turmoil. His hometown was on the front line during most of the Japanese invasion and occupation of China. When he was 16, Y. S. Chow journeyed, mostly on foot, to Chongqing (Chung-King), the wartime Chinese capital, to finish his high school education. When the Communist party gained power in China, Y. S. Chow had already followed his university job to Taiwan. In Taiwan, he taught mathematics as an assistant at National Taiwan University until he came to the United States in 1954. At the University of Illinois, he studied under J. L. Doob and received his Ph.D. in 1958. He served as a staff mathematician and adjunct faculty at the IBM Watson Research Laboratory and Columbia University from 1959 to 1962. He was a member of the Statistics Department at Purdue University from 1962 to 1968. From 1968 until his retirement in 1993, Y. S. Chow served as Professor of Mathematical Statistics at Columbia University. At different times, he was a visiting professor at the University of California at Berkeley, University of Heidelberg (Germany) and the National Central University, Taiwan. He served as Director of the Institute of Mathematics of Academia Sinica, Taiwan, and Director of the Center of Applied Statistics at Nankai University, Tianjin, China. He was instrumental in establishing the Institute of Statistics of Academia Sinica in Taiwan. He is currently Professor Emeritus at Columbia University. Y. S. Chow is a fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, a member of the International Statistical Institute and a member of Taiwan's Academia Sinica. He has numerous publications, including Great Expectations: The Theory of Optimal Stopping (1971), in collaboration with Herbert Robbins and David Siegmund, and Probability Theory (1978), in collaboration with Henry Teicher. Y. S. Chow has a strong interest in mathematics education. He taught high school mathematics for one year in 1947 and wrote a book on high school algebra in collaboration with J. H. Teng and M. L. Chu. In 1992, Y. S. Chow, together with I. S. Chang and W. C. Ho, established the Chinese Institute of Probability and Statistics in Taiwan. This conversation took place in the fall of 2003 in Dobbs Ferry, New York.Comment: Published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/088342304000000224 in the Statistical Science (http://www.imstat.org/sts/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

“Oceania as Peril and Promise: Towards a Worlded Vision of Transpacific Ecopoetics”

Excerpt from Oceanic Archives, Indigenous Epistempologies, and Transpacific American Studies, edited by Yuan Shu, Otto Heim, and Kendall Johnso

Science Press, Beijing, China: Fauna Sinica Arachnida: Araneae [Rezension]

a) Song Daxiang & Zhu Mingsheng: Thomisidae, Philodromidae. 1997, 259 S., ISBN 7-03-005707-4/Q.684, Preis 44,- Yuan (ca. 9,68 DM) b) Zhu Mingsheng: Theridiidae. 1998, 436 S., ISBN 7-03-006243-4/Q.748, Preis 69,- Yuan (ca. 15,18 DM) c) Yin Changmin et al.: Araneidae. 1997, 460 S., ISBN 7-03-005705-8/Q.682, Preis 76,- Yuan (ca. 16,72 DM) Alle drei Bücher wurden Überwiegend in chinesisch verfaßt. Es findet sich jedoch ein englischer Bestimmungsschlüssel am Ende jedes Werkes. Ihm angeschlossen ist ein Artregister in lateinischer Schrift. Die Zeichnungen der Genitalien und des Habitus sind sehr deutlich und lassen sich in ihrer Genauigkeit sicherlich mit den Zeichnungen M.J. Roberts vergleichen. Die Beschreibungen zur Biogeographie werden zwar im Einführungsteil (Karten) dargestellt, die zugehörigen Textpassagen sind aber in chinesisch geschrieben worden

A Great Leap Forward, the Second Time Around: Thirty Years of Economic Reforms in China

December of 2008 marks the 30th year of the beginning of China's economic opening. The country's rapid development since 1978 is without historical precedent. Yet this growth is even more impressive when one surveys the entire period from the founding of the People's Republic in 1949 to present. Although the years from1949 to 1978 were close to catastrophic, and the basis for economic development over the next thirty years could have hardly been worse, on the 60th anniversary of the government's founding, the country's achievements - at least from an economic perspective - must be viewed as an extraordinary success. On the 30th anniversary of China's economic opening, the following article assesses that which has been achieved to date. It also explores the causes of the economic stagnation of the "lost decades" between 1949 and 1978. The deep stagnation experienced during the early years of the People's Republic as well as China's reorientation in 1978 and subsequent boom can only be understood with reference to this historical period. Any assessment of the country's present-day political and economic situation is also contingent upon an appreciation of the long cycles that characterize Chinese history. Since the opening of the country and its rise to the world's second-largest economy and trading partner, China has surpassed Japan and taken on equal standing with the EU as the most significant decision maker in economic and political affairs after the US. China's importance is not yet reflected in World Bank and IMF quotas or in the composition of the G8-yet China is sure to take on an increasingly prominent role in coming years. If China can maintain the growth rates witnessed over the past three decades, in less than 15 years it will surpass the US as the world's largest economy and most significant trading partner. While the future is by no means preordained, all of the preconditions for this to occur are in place. China still possesses large labor reserves; is a net creditor to the rest of the world and holds currency reserves of a historically unprecedented volume; will soon be the largest and most dynamic domestic market in the world (and will therefore continue to attract direct foreign investment); and displays considerable potential for growth in domestic demand. Furthermore, the reform of China's financial sector and the deregulation of capital flows could potentially stoke additional economic expansion. The current financial crisis has not left China unscathed, but is unlikely to have a lasting effect on the country's long-term development.China, Communism, Market Economy, Gradualism

Study on the effect of biogas project on the development of lowcarbon circular economy -A case study of Beilangzhong eco-village

AbstractWith Beilangzhong eco-village as an example, the effects of the biogas project on the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and its economic effects are analyzed. The results show that 1833.45t GHG (CO2 equivalent) was reduced, and an income of 1,117,000 Yuan (RMB), a net income of 958,500 Yuan (RMB), was gained by biogas sales, alternative energy, comprehensive utilization of anaerobic fermentation residues and the reduction of GHG emission, so the biogas project can greatly promote the establishment of low-carbon circular economy mode and sustainable development of ecological agriculture in Beilangzhong eco-village