Renmimbi is a profitable alternative to the dollar – ING

The Chinese renminbi is holding up exceptionally well and its credentials as a reserve currency continue to grow. Economists at ING expect this trend to continue.

Russia's ability to defend the rouble will turn to China

“Focus on Russia's ability to defend the rouble will turn to China, given that Russia has 13% of its FX reserves in the renminbi – does the CBR sell those if they are still available? There will also be a focus on whether Russia tries to secure FX swap lines with China although it remains very unclear that China would want to participate in such a venture given the risk of secondary sanctions.”

“For now, we continue to favour the renminbi as an alternative to the dollar and should focus return to macro, China's Two Sessions meeting later this week could re-focus the market on Chinese growth initiatives and a stronger renminbi.”