A novel pathway to power? Contestation and adaptation in China's internationalization of the RMB

In this article, we investigate the dynamics of contestation and adaptation that are unfolding within global financial markets as China seeks to internationalize its currency, the renminbi (RMB) or yuan. We develop a conceptual framework that stresses the potential malleability of the global monetary system. Economic actors and international institutions are not static but dynamic and respond to events. Accordingly, we highlight two underexplored features of RMB internationalization: first, the variegated and politicized nature of capital account and currency management controls that China is implementing; and second, the manner in which these unique currency management systems are interacting with the ideational and institutional underpinnings of how transnational financial markets are generated and stabilized. Our analytical framework is then applied to examine the interface of China's onshore/offshore RMB markets. We argue that China is adopting a unique mode of monetary governance that reflects a different relationship between the state and market from that which we see in the West at present. Whilst the prospects of China ‘muddling through’ this internationalization process are uncertain, it remains possible that RMB internationalization will transform the global financial landscape in deeply qualitative as well as purely quantitative ways, ushering in an era of more illiberal state-managed monetary relations.