club of global currencies. This means that the yuan, also called the renminbi, will join

這代表了人民幣

the US dollar, the Euro, the British pound and the Japanese yen as the world’s most

將與美金、歐元、英鎊以及日圓並列

reliable and freely usable denominations. So, What makes a strong currency?

成為可靠又實用的貨幣之一，究竟什麼是強勢貨幣呢？

Well, the strength of a currency is generally measured by its purchasing power, which is

貨幣的能力取決於購買力

the amount of goods or services that one unit of money can buy. Since modern currencies

也就是一單位貨幣能買到的商品或服務量

are not backed by a collateral like gold, their value is entirely dependent on external

現代貨幣不像金本位制有實質參考，其價值完全由外在因素決定

factors. This would include things like how much control a government has on the currency,

包括政府對貨幣的控制多寡

whether or not it has a fair exchange rate and its long term stability. All of these

匯率是否實際公道，以及長期是否穩定

contribute to public faith in the value of a currency. For example, in 2005, the Turkish

這些都是大眾信任貨幣價值的原因，例如2005年

government eliminated six zeros from its Lira overnight. This essentially converted 1 million

土耳其政府一夕間刪掉土耳其里拉紙幣上六個零

lira to a single lira, and people accepted this immediately, because they had faith in

使1百萬舊里拉等同1塊新里拉，人民馬上就接受這項改變

the economy that was backing it. The number on the bills didn’t really matter. Overall,

因為他們相信里拉背後的土耳其經濟，紙鈔上的面額反而不重要

people tend to have greater faith in currencies that are widely used and internationally accepted.

整體而言，人民較信任廣泛流通且受國際接納的貨幣

In that way, a currency’s value is not only based on what you can buy with it, but on

因此貨幣價值不只是能買多少東西

how much of the world uses it.

還有全世界對此貨幣的愛用程度

Currencies that are internationally trusted are often referred to as Hard Currencies.

受到國際信任的貨幣稱為「硬通貨」

The US dollar, the Euro, the British pound and the Japanese yen all fall into this category

美金、歐元、英鎊和日圓都是硬通貨

because, again, the governments and economies that back them are seen as strong and stable.

因為這些貨幣背後有強大穩定的政府和經濟體支持

In fact, many countries have abandoned their domestic currency in favor of hard currency.

其實有許多國家放棄本國貨幣改用硬通貨

Over one dozen countries and territories have adopted the US dollar as their own, a process

現在有超過12個國家或地區用美元作為流通貨幣

commonly known as “dollarizing”. Moreover, both average citizens and investors tend to

此現象稱為「美元化」，不只如此，平民百姓和投資人

prefer hard currencies during times of political unrest or global economic instability. When

在政治動盪或全球經濟波動時，都傾向換用硬通貨

rapid inflation hit Latin America in the 1980’s, many people there temporarily switched to

1980年代拉丁美洲面臨嚴重通膨，許多人暫時改用美金

the dollar, fearing that their domestic currencies would continue to go down in value.

因為他們害怕本國貨幣會持續貶值

Because of their consistency and reliability, currencies like the US dollar and the Euro

美金和歐元一類貨幣由於穩定可靠

are kept in huge reserves by nations with minor currencies. These nations use their

許多貨幣較弱的國家就會大量儲備

reserve currencies for international trade or borrowing foreign money. US dollars are

這些國家運用儲備貨幣進行國際貿易或外幣借貸

the most popular reserve currency, counting for roughly 60 percent of all global foreign

美金是最常見的儲備貨幣，約佔全球外匯存底60%

exchange reserves. What’s more, the dollar is included in roughly 90 percent of all international

此外，全球國際交易中90%使用美金

transactions.

So, how has the Chinese Yuan made its way into this elite group of currencies? Well,

究竟人民幣是如何躋身精英貨幣的行列呢？

the Chinese government has recently loosened some control over its currency and built trading

中國政府近來放鬆對人民幣的控制

hubs in other countries. As a result, market forces will play a bigger role in setting

並且在國外廣設交易中心，因此市場對人民幣價值影響更大

the value of the Yuan, and the currency will be more tradeable, and less susceptible to

人民幣流通也更廣泛，更不易受政府操控

government manipulation. The newly powerful Yuan is already gaining ground on the Euro,

人民幣已經在歐洲漸漸抬頭

and China hopes that their currency will one day rival the dollar as the number one reserve

中國希望有朝一日能取代美金成為全球第一儲備貨幣

currency. However that prospect remains in the distant future.

不過看來還有漫漫長路要走

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感謝贊助商幫助我們製作影片

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本片由Squarespace贊助，幫你架設個人網站，新手也不怕

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註冊一年就能獲得免費網域名稱

type in TestTube at checkout, you’ll get an extra 10% off. Squarespace… you should.

結帳輸入TestTube再享9折優惠，Squarespce，請你嘗試

Make sure to check out more TestTube News videos like this one about China’s currency

別錯過更多TestTube News影片

manipulation, and how it changed the nation’s financial standing. Thanks for

有關中國的貨幣操控，及操控如何改變中國金融地位

watching TestTube News, don’t forget to like and subscribe for new videos every day.

感謝收看TestTube News，別忘了按讚訂閱每日最新影片