00:00People talk about how China's using this moment to leverage and deepen relations with the US,
00:05with the Middle East. How is the currency being looked at? You know, we talk about
00:11de-dollarization. Might the yuan be an alternative? Some say it could be the safe haven now.
00:18Absolutely. And we are seeing that. We're totally seeing that. You know, day in, day out,
00:23I'm getting more people speaking with me, unprompted. What's happening with the yuan?
00:29Okay. Can, you know, for example, there was an announcement last Friday about China opening up,
00:37you know, Chinese government bond futures. This is me being slightly nerdy again.
00:40Bear with me. You know, to foreign trading, right? That's another step. Investors love it.
00:46Institutional investors go, boom, this is another avenue for me to invest. And in a time when there
00:53are a lot of political uncertainty and geopolitical tensions, you do want to invest in a country that
01:01is big, that, you know, is giving you avenues to make money. And the yuan absolutely has been seen
01:09as an anchor in Asia, undoubtedly. And in fact, it shows not just in the yuan, it's, you know,
01:16how it brings, it's almost like a center of gravity. Think of it that way, you know. And because of
01:22China's stability, when it comes to its currency, everyone else in the region tends to benefit from
01:29it. So yes, on a global scale, absolutely, China is seeing... Is it a game changer, Ruth? Does it
01:36fundamentally change its position in global finance? So this is a tussle in the $9.5 trillion a day
01:47foreign exchange market. Remember, the dollar dominates 90%, 89% to be precise, of every foreign
01:55exchange trade in the world every single day. And remember, we think equities is big, bonds is big.
02:01This is $9.5 trillion a day. And the yuan is 3%? Yes.
02:05So is there a gap? Yeah. But, but is China making steps, you know, and viable steps that the world
02:16is
02:16watching? Absolutely. And worth pointing out as well, I mean, you know, transactions at the
02:23Strait of Hormuz are in yuan. Yes, there are. There are. And again, it shows you, to your point,
02:30Kirishmo, about soft power, right? And how China is making its own stakes. Absolutely. Now, is it to
02:37the point where it can challenge the US when it comes to capital flows and capital markets depth?
02:43No, no. But probably what we're seeing is an acceleration of that, both because of, you know,
02:50the tensions that we're seeing from the US, but also China's efforts.
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