On May 18, 2026, the book- launch event of Restructuring and Response: From the Bretton Woods System to a New Global Monetary System was grandly held on the sidelines of the 2026 Tsinghua PBCSF Global Financial Forum. Zhang Liqing, Director of the International Financial Research Center at Central University of Finance and Economics, attended the event and delivered an overall launch interpretation of the new book. Miao Yanliang, Senior Managing Director and Chief Strategist of China International Capital Corporation (CICC), gave on site professional comments and insights.
Photo: Zhang Liqing
First, Zhang Liqing released the new book Restructuring and Response: From the Bretton Woods System to a New Global Monetary System. The book was led by Zhu Min, former Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund and former Deputy Governor of the People’s Bank of China, and completed under the auspices of the PBC School of Finance, Tsinghua University, and the Global Economic Governance 50 Forum. Zhang pointed out that the Bretton Woods system, established in July 1944, successfully avoided the “beggar-thy-neighbor” nationalist economic policies prevalent during the Great Depression, effectively promoted global economic growth and financial stability, and was described by an IMF historian as “the most respected name in international monetary history, perhaps in economic history.” However, the United States often prioritized its own interests and closed the gold window in 1971 due to excessively high policy coordination costs, leading to the collapse of the system. The current “post-Bretton Woods system” is centered on the U.S. dollar, suffering from the Triffin dilemma and the new Triffin dilemma, with the dollar’s excessive privileges causing global financial turmoil. Proposals such as creating a single world currency or returning to the gold standard lack practical feasibility. A multi-currency reserve system is a relatively realistic second-best choice, but it requires more diversified governance structures of the IMF and the World Bank. Zhang analyzed that due to factors such as the declining share of US GDP in the world, rising government debt (124% of GDP in 2025), net external liabilities reaching 90% of GDP, dollar weaponization, and unilateralist policies, the dollar’s dominant position will continue to decline. In the long run, the renminbi will become an important part of a diversified reserve system, but internationalization is a market-driven process. At present, China can appropriately accelerate capital account opening, expand two-way opening of the government bond market, actively promote the development of the offshore renminbi market, and tap the potential for cooperation with Global South countries. Regarding the impact of stablecoins and AI, Zhang argued that in the short term, stablecoin issuance may generate demand for US Treasury bonds and slow the dollar’s decline, but in the long term it cannot avoid the constraints of the new Triffin dilemma.
Photo: Miao Yanliang
Subsequently, Miao Yanliang, noted in his comments that the international monetary system is often the slowest-moving part of global order changes. He observed that since 2015, global official foreign exchange reserves have stopped growing rapidly, due to rising policy spillovers and uncertainty from the core currency issuer and the strengthening economic strength of emerging economies, especially China. He emphasized that the essence of money is trust, not resources or manufacturing capacity. Promoting renminbi internationalization requires five actions: first, enhancing the flexibility of the exchange rate formation mechanism while keeping the renminbi exchange rate basically stable at an adaptive and equilibrium level; second, increasing the supply of offshore renminbi safe assets, moderately expanding the supply of government bonds and high-grade renminbi bonds; third, leveraging China’s trade status to enhance the role of renminbi settlement; fourth, raising the status of renminbi as a pricing currency, gradually enhancing renminbi pricing and price formation capabilities in sectors with comparative advantages and industrial chain influence; fifth, coordinating the development of onshore and offshore renminbi markets, as synergistic development provides a solid institutional foundation for renminbi internationalization. The Global Economic Governance 50 Forum is a high-level think tank initiated by Mr. Zhu Min, former Deputy Governor of the People’s Bank of China and former Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, and hosted by the Tsinghua University PBC School of Finance. The Forum is committed to conducting independent, forward-looking and academically supported policy research on the improvement and reform of the global economic governance system, and providing solutions on how China better engages in global economic governance.
(Scan the QR code to purchase the book)