Friday, October 31, 2008

China suggests U.S. dollar should be banished from international trade

The United States has plundered global wealth by exploiting the dollar's dominance, and the world urgently needs other currencies to take its place, the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party says.

The front-page commentary in the overseas edition of the People's Daily said that Asian and European countries should banish the U.S. dollar from their direct trade relations for a start, relying only on their own currencies.

A few days later, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin proposed that Russia and China ditch the dollar and gradually switch over to national currency payments in their bilateral trade, expected to total $50 billion in 2008. Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao described strengthening bilateral relations as "strategic."

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