Spectre of capital flight slows China FX reform drive

Long-time China watchers probably felt a sense of deja vu when HSBC’s chief China economist, Qu Hongbin, predicted last month that the yuan would be convertible within five years.

China has been thwarting such predictions since 1993, when it first formally adopted capital account convertibility as a long-term goal.

Consummate China insider Fred Hu, who stepped down as Goldman Sachs’ Greater China chairman in 2010 to launch a private equity fund, made a similar prediction in 2002, just before China’s last political leadership transition.

via Business feed http://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1108909/spectre-capital-flight-slows-china-fx-reform-drive