De-Dollarization: China’s Gold Will Break Global Dependence On U.S. Dollar, Economist Says

Jin emphasized that as the U.S. dollar’s power is gradually fading, China, the largest U.S. creditor, may potentially destroy the U.S. dollar.

Still the U.S. dollar remains as the “biggest player,” accounting for 60 percent of global reserves. However, many countries are looking at ways to limit the power of the U.S. dollar, to de-dollarize, in order to become less dependent on it.

The only way for Beijing to end the U.S. dollar’s reign, according to Jin, is to accumulate a significant amount of gold, namely 30,000 tons. In this case, China would be able to challenge the U.S.’s longstanding dominant position in the realm of global trade and financial markets.

#Gold exports to #China from #Switzerland almost doubled to 46.4 tonnes in March, up from 23.6 tonnes in February – http://t.co/lPiksDu0yY

— World Gold Council (@GOLDCOUNCIL) April 28, 2015

Alasdair Macleod, a researcher and former Executive Director at an offshore bank in Guernsey and Jersey, highlighted that between 1983 and 2003 China could have secretly accumulated almost 20,000 tons of gold.

#Chinese and #Indian#Gold Buying: At the Peak since January 2014 http://t.co/Ind2DgYnvMpic.twitter.com/1E3QmQdmRm — World Gold Council (@GOLDCOUNCIL) April 24, 2015

“Since 2002, the Chinese state has almost certainly acquired by these means a further 5,000 tons or more,” the expert suggested. He elaborated that by liberating public gold ownership in 2002 and forming the Shanghai Gold Exchange, Beijing has thus reduced the need for currency intervention to halt the renminbi from rising.

“Therefore the Chinese state has probably accumulated between 20,000 and 30,000 tons since 1983, and has no need to acquire any more through market purchases given her own refineries are supplying over 500 tons per annum,” the expert emphasized.

China may soon release an update of its actual gold reserves, as Beijing’s officials make a push to include the yuan into the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Special drawing rights (SDR) basket, alongside the U.S. dollar and other major currencies. Meanwhile, China has inked currency swap deals with around 28 nations and has established a Yuan trading center in Switzerland.

Moreover, Beijing is encouraging de-dollarization among the Shanghai Cooperation Organization members. The Russo-China energy deal concluded in the yuan and the ruble in 2014 was heralded by experts as a signal of a potential shift from one type of monetary system to another.

The Chinese economy is seen as likely outpacing the U.S. by 2016 and the Chinese yuan, at some point, years down the road, could replace the U.S. dollar as the world’s main reserve currency.