The internationalisation of the Chinese currency, the yuan (sometimes called renminbi), continues apace with the country’s apparently inexorable progress to become the world’s biggest economy.
It is a process that has been attracting interest in financial centres across the world and looks set to be a major event in the UAE later this year.
The Brexit vote only increased the stakes, with some experts in London suggesting that the City could compensate for any waning influence in the European financial system by becoming the leading global centre for yuan trading, challenging Hong Kong, the current yuan offshore hub. The global competition to trade yuan is hotting up.
It should be noted that the potential is huge because the Chinese currency has some way to go before it can claim to match the power of its economy. The yuan is only sixth in the league tables for global payments behind the dollar, the euro, the British pound, Japanese yen and – even – Canadian dollar.
Those who might use the currency – basically anybody who trades with China – have been deterred by recent depreciation and a suspicion the Chinese authorities are manipulating the yuan for their own purposes, rather than allowing it to become a real free-market currency.
Whatever the accuracy of those claims, it seems obvious the UAE will want to become more involved in yuan currency trading. Closer China-UAE trade links have been identified as strategic priorities by UAE policymakers and an alliance on currency trading is an obvious aspect of that shift.
Regional rivalries also play a part. No doubt UAE enthusiasm for closer yuan ties were sharpened by the launch last year in Qatar of the first regional clearing centre, with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) as the clearer.
Recent reports that the People’s Bank of China, the central bank, would soon choose a Chinese bank in the UAE to be its clearer led to the assumption that Dubai would be the focus for the new arrangement.
There would be much logic to that. Dubai International Financial Centre is already the local offshore home to the four biggest Chinese banks and the value of their balance sheets accounts for roughly one quarter of the DIFC’s total assets. DIFC has been assiduously cultivating the Chinese financial authorities for several years.
But it is not necessarily a foregone conclusion that China will choose Dubai as its UAE hub. The Central Bank of the UAE, based in Abu Dhabi, has recently awarded licences to Bank of China and ICBC in support of expanding UAE-China trade and the One Belt, One Road strategy of China towards central Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Those licences are onshore rather than offshore, which is where you would expect the Chinese yuan clearer to be located. But there is a now a viable offshore option in the capital, with the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) well and truly open for business.
ADGM officials are currently visiting China and the matter of a yuan trading hub is bound to be near top of the agenda in their talks with Chinese counterparts.
fkane@thenational.ae
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David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
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COMPANY PROFILE
Company: Eco Way
Started: December 2023
Founder: Ivan Kroshnyi
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Electric vehicles
Investors: Bootstrapped with undisclosed funding. Looking to raise funds from outside
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 2.5/5
Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
Rory Reynolds
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.6-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 285bhp
Torque: 353Nm
Price: TBA
On sale: Q2, 2020
The specs: 2019 Haval H6
Price, base: Dh69,900
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 197hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 315Nm @ 2,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
TEACHERS' PAY - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.