Towards a New Economic Order: De-Dollarisation, China and the Global South

"In short, all available avenues should be used to promote de-dollarisation in commodity trade among Global South countries."

Today’s piece, by three neo-Marxist development economists, highlights two enduring themes within the PRC: that the global financial system is structured to benefit the United States and its Western allies at the expense of the “Global South”; and that China, together with other developing countries, must unite in constructing a new and more equitable economic order free from American hegemony. The global financial crisis of the late 2000s, Western sanctions against Russia, and Trump’s unpredictable wielding of America’s economic stick have all lent weight to this perspective — and strengthened the argument that China must continue to reorient its economic focus towards the Global South and bolster its financial security, ultimately reducing its dependence on both the US dollar and the Western-dominated SWIFT payment system.

The messages the article seeks to convey are noteworthy; the rigour of its analysis, perhaps less so. As is too often the case in Chinese commentary, the authors a…