Economists spend a lot of time debating whether China’s economy faces a soft landing or a hard landing. Markets care more about whether China will impose the pain of a slowdown — soft or hard — on the rest of the world by weakening its currency.
Yesterday, the renminbi closed below the low set after its shock devaluation in August, giving back all the gains it had made. The offshore-traded renminbi, which is not subject to the 2 per cent daily limit, is still not as weak as at its worst in August, but the discount to the official rate has widened sharply.
The trigger for the drop was weak data, showing exports and imports falling fast and capital outflows accelerating again, eating into foreign exchange reserves.