Is there life after the US dollar? There has never been a more appropriate moment to reflect on the dynamics that have kept the international monetary system relatively stable over the past half-century. In 2009, Zhou proposed exploring a global currency decoupled from the domestic concerns of any single issuer. Until then, China—the world’s largest exporter—had relied almost entirely on the dollar to invoice and settle its external trade. Reducing reliance on the dollar and diversifying away from a single reserve asset made sense for China then, and it still does.

Source: Sunday Times January 25, 2026 05:49 UTC