China forces gold to account for the growing disparity between the yuan and the dollar. The underlying message is simple: the dollar is overvalued relative to gold, and the U.S. should devalue its currency against the metal. Gold’s current price in dollars fails to reflect the last two decades of global economic shifts.
China’s Strategy: Gold and the Dollar
China is taking a calculated approach to challenging the dollar’s dominance. Instead of directly manipulating the yuan, it uses gold to shift power between the yuan and the dollar. While the U.S. pushes China to lower the yuan’s value against the dollar, China focuses on revaluing its currency against gold by purchasing gold with its own held U.S. dollars.