Renminbi strength puts exporters under pressure

China’s exporters continued to gain global market share last year but the recent sharp rise in the renminbi against other emerging market currencies is likely to put them under pressure in 2015. US data show that the prices of imports from China have remained stable in dollar terms while import prices from other EMs have been falling. In recent weeks, the People’s Bank seems to have been intervening to keep the renminbi from weakening. It will come under pressure to allow the currency to slide if exports start to suffer.