The financial crisis originating in the United States is causing losses to many countries in the world. While actively rescuing the market, countries around the world are increasingly calling for the reform of the current international monetary and financial system. Not only did the Asia-Europe Summit at the end of 10 reach an understanding of reform, but the international financial summit to be held in Washington in June15 will also discuss this focus.

Why reform the international financial system? How to change it? What role can China play? Around these problems, the editorial department of this journal conducted online interviews with three journalists in Washington, London and Tokyo.

The international financial system cannot be changed.

Editor's Note: Since the outbreak of the financial crisis, all countries have been rethinking their lessons and put forward the requirements of reforming the international financial system. Do you think it's weird?

Liu Haoyuan, a reporter stationed in Tokyo for half a month: The financial turmoil swept the world, and Japan also suffered greatly. The stock market plummeted, the yen soared, corporate performance declined, and economic growth regressed ... At present, the mainstream view in Japanese academic circles and economic and financial circles is that the root of this financial crisis lies in the excessively free economic model led by the United States, and the lack of government supervision leads to the virtual economy's laissez-faire, which leads to financial chaos and panic and endangers the real economy.

Guan, a researcher at the Policy Research Department of the Tokyo Foundation of Japan, said in an interview that neoliberalism led by the United States and Europe has contributed to the tendency of financial markets to pursue the maximization of short-term interests. Coupled with the diversification of modern financial business, dazzling interrelated financial derivatives have been developed for transnational transactions, making it difficult for people to grasp their real risks. Faced with this huge transnational trading market, the international community has not established a corresponding response mechanism, and countries cannot prevent the occurrence of problems, leading to the rapid spread of the crisis on a global scale.

Guan believes that it is necessary to reflect on the current international financial system, re-recognize the fragility of the international economic system based on the currency of a specific country, and promote the establishment of a new international financial system.

Chen Wenxian, a reporter based in London for half a month: 10/0 On October 28th, the Bank of England published the Financial Stability Report, which predicted that the losses suffered by global financial institutions in this round of financial crisis might be as high as 1.8 trillion pounds. John Giff, deputy governor of the Bank of England, pointed out that the recent turmoil in the global financial system is the most serious in history. He believes that it is necessary to fundamentally rethink how to manage risks in the international financial system and establish a stronger mechanism to control risks within the financial system so as not to affect the broader real economy.

Liu Hong: The United States is the host country of the international financial summit. According to White House spokesman Perinaud, the summit will discuss the root causes of the financial crisis and coping strategies, and will reach a set of principled opinions on the reform of the world financial sector. In other words, under the background of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression in the 1930s, this summit will lay the foundation for a new international economic and financial order.

It should be affirmed that the current crisis has made all countries realize that the international community must reform the current international financial system to avoid a recurrence of the crisis. US Treasury Secretary Henry Merritt Paulson admitted: "If you look at the current global financial system, I don't think it can reflect the current world economic situation. Now it is an expanded world, much bigger than the G-7. " International Monetary Fund (IMF) President Dominique Strauss-Kahn said that the financial crisis clearly showed that the current financial system could not meet the requirements of the global financial market, and the "legitimacy and effectiveness" of this system was doubtful.

There are still differences in the reform concept.

Editor: How to reform the international financial system is the focus of the upcoming international financial summit. How do major countries view this issue?

Liu Hong: World Bank President Zoellick believes that the international community should consider establishing a new steering group of 14 or larger, including seven western countries and major emerging economies, such as China, Brazil, India, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa. This new multilateral system should be flexible, with no restrictions on the number of members. Over time, it should also accept qualified emerging powers.

According to the German proposal, the new group must include China, India and other emerging economies in addition to the seven western countries and Russia. The Arab world can also have a representative, and its member States should have the same rights and obligations. The Italian government believes that this new organization might as well be called X Group, where X represents many uncertain countries.

As the establishment of a new international institution is complicated, time-consuming and laborious, some economists and politicians suggest that the current level of the G-20 should be upgraded to make this organization including seven western countries and major emerging economies an important platform for consultation and response to the current financial crisis.

However, it is the consensus of all parties to strengthen international financial supervision and improve the representation of emerging and developing economies in the new financial structure.

Liu Haoyuan: Guan believes that in order to strengthen the supervision of financial institutions, the existing IMF, BIS (Bank for International Settlements) and other related institutions should be integrated to form an "international financial institution" and the capital contribution of Japan and China should be greatly increased. The new "international financial institution" should become the economic version of the "United Nations Security Council", and its deliberation and decision-making methods should refer to the procedures and practices of the Security Council. In addition, the current IMF special drawing rights system should be expanded to build an international settlement system composed of dollars, yen, euros, RMB and other currencies.

China's role is valued.

Editor: For a long time, the "rules of the game" of the international financial system have been dominated by developed countries, lacking democracy with global participation, especially ignoring the wishes and interests of developing countries. What role can developing countries like China play in the future reform?

Liu Haoyuan: Qi Hui Miyagi, president of Japanese Nikko Asset Management Company in Greater China, pointed out in an interview that the financial crisis has proved that the American free market economic model highly praised by western countries has turned for the better. The financial crisis forced countries to strengthen the supervision of financial institutions, find risks and introduce laws and policies to restrict the business activities of financial institutions and seek new financial market development models. China respects the free development of the market and the government intervenes appropriately. The development of China in the past 30 years may also be taken as the research object, which will be a good reference for the global financial market to seek a new model in the future development.

Chen Wenxian: In Britain, when relevant government officials and experts discuss how to build a new global financial system, they will all talk about the importance of China. Mr. Howard Davies, dean of the London School of Economics and Political Science, said in an interview that it is time to consider bringing China into the global financial system. At present, China is not a member of the world's important financial decision-making bodies such as the G8, the Financial Stability Forum and the Basel Committee. However, it is no longer possible to manage the global financial system without considering China. Under the severe financial crisis, the pace of China's joining these institutions will be accelerated.

Liu Hong: Drastic reforms will inevitably reduce the importance of the United States in the international financial system. Therefore, the United States has considerable reservations about the reform attitude advocated by the European Union. The Wall Street Journal article pointed out that the goal of European leaders is to reform the world financial system, but it will take many years to achieve it. "The Bush administration is still skeptical about some long-term ideas implemented in Europe. Since there are only three months before Bush leaves office, this administration will be cautious about what specific commitments the United States can make. "

Although there are more than a dozen emerging economies in the G20, many observers believe that among all the participating members, the United States is actually most concerned about China's attitude and performance. The reason is simple: China is the largest emerging economy with the largest foreign exchange reserves, while China's economy has maintained rapid development. However, China is a developing country after all. It is not only detrimental to China's interests, but also unable to effectively cope with the current crisis to promote China's role and urge China to fulfill its responsibilities beyond its own capacity.

/kloc-on 0/5, the G20 summit will be held in Washington, D.C., and the key topic will be the reform of the international monetary system. Although the voice of the reform of the international monetary system is very high, the "reform of the international financial system" is a movement involving a major adjustment of global political and economic interests, in which struggles and conflicts will be inevitable. In an exclusive interview with this reporter, Zhang Shiguo, a researcher at the Research Center of Transnational Corporations of the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, pointed out that "the more realistic choice in the near future is to play the positive role of other important currencies other than the US dollar in the international economy, enhance the participation rights of relevant countries in the rules of the international monetary system, and strengthen international cooperation in financial supervision."

The status of the dollar is still hard to shake.

Zhang Shiguo, who has been engaged in international financial research for a long time, believes that the short-term goal of reforming the international monetary system is mainly to play the positive role of other important currencies in the international monetary system, but the conditions for replacing the current international monetary status of the US dollar are not yet mature. He said: "Despite the impact of the current financial crisis, the dollar-based currency has been criticized by the international community, but the time for abolishing the dollar-based currency is not yet ripe. The dollar is still the largest settlement and reserve currency in the world, which has been accepted by the mainstream economic zones and the central banks of most countries in the world. For a long time to come, maintaining the stability of the existing international financial order is in the fundamental interests of most countries. "

"Therefore, in the current international economic environment, neither the United States, the European Union, China nor the international community are prepared to give up or replace the dollar standard. At present, the reconstruction of the new international monetary order advocated by all countries in the world is still in the primary stage, and the relevant knowledge has not been condensed. It takes a long process from' putting forward' to' achieving the goal'. The near-term goal of countries around the world to promote the establishment of a new international financial order is to strive for their own favorable position in the process of change. "

He specifically analyzed: "Countries around the world have different understandings of establishing a new international monetary order in the future. The opinion of the United States is to strengthen the coordination of international financial supervision through' financial reform' and monitor international capital flows. At the same time, it insists on listening more and doing less on issues such as the reform of the dollar standard, and transmits information through various means: the international monetary status of the dollar cannot be shaken, otherwise the world will suffer a greater international financial crisis. "

"The early ideal of EU leaders is to use the current financial crisis to enhance the status of the euro in the international monetary system, with the aim of forming a' dollar-euro bipolar' international monetary system, so that the euro can play the role of the mainstream currency in international reserves, settlement and circulation. Subsequently, the European Union was also hit hard in the financial crisis, and its currency status was greatly affected. The euro showed a large downward trend, which greatly restrained the short-term intention of the European Union to establish a new Bretton Woods institution. After all, shaking the Bretton Woods system established in New Hampshire in 1944 and establishing the status of the US dollar as an international monetary system will directly affect the major interests of the United States and will also be resisted and opposed by the United States. By 1 1 month, the EU's attitude has softened to the point that the goal of establishing a new monetary order is to strengthen the greater role of the euro in the current financial reform. " Zhang Shiguo pointed out.

He also pointed out that other countries, such as Russia, Iran and Venezuela, are also proposing to drive away the "US dollar international standard currency" and strengthen the role of international currencies such as Russian ruble and RMB. However, in view of the small proportion of these countries in the global economy, global trade and settlement, the impact on the existing international status of the US dollar will not be too great.

Reform must expand the participation rights of all countries.

Zhang Shiguo stressed: "The key to rebuilding the new international financial order is not to rebuild a new' non-dollar' monetary system, but to redistribute the actual interests and power of existing international financial resources."

He pointed out that in view of the fact that the existing international monetary system with the dollar standard as the core is still difficult to shake, governments of various countries are mainly committed to promoting the reform of the international monetary system and reshaping the new international financial order at the technical level. For more than two months since September this year, the international community has continuously issued initiatives and declarations to reform the international monetary system through the European Summit, the Asia-Europe Summit, the China-Russia Leaders' Meeting and the BRICS Finance Ministers' Meeting, which has condensed the international community's understanding of reforming the global financial system. The upcoming G-20 summit in Washington may also discuss issues related to the reform of the international monetary system, but it can be expected that relevant parties may make appropriate compromises, such as expanding the participation, voice and influence of some important countries in the international monetary system, without shaking the status of the US dollar as an international standard currency.

He said that in the formulation of traditional international monetary rules, the dollar is at the core, so the United States holds the actual control of the existing international financial system. Countries such as the European Union and Japan have certain participation rights, but they lack sufficient decision-making influence. In recent years, China, India, Brazil, Russian and other emerging economic powers are basically excluded from the decision-making circle of the international monetary system. At present, the European Union, China, India, Brazil and other countries have expressed their desire to expand their participation, right to know and influence in the formulation of international monetary rules. Under the pressure of all countries in the world, the attitude of the United States may soften to some extent after the financial crisis.

Therefore, Zhang Shiguo pointed out that it is a possible and realistic choice to restructure the International Monetary Fund without shaking the current status of the US dollar as an international currency. He explained: "At present, the actual situation of the International Monetary Fund is that the United States has a de facto veto power. Therefore, whether the current reform of the international financial system will shake the one-vote veto power of the United States has attracted much attention. According to the agreement of the IMF, the major issues of the fund must be approved by 85% of the total voting rights of all member countries before they can take effect. In the IMF, the United States has 16.79% of the voting rights. Therefore, redistributing the shareholding ratio of the International Monetary Fund and expanding the fund scale will be a realistic choice to reform the current international monetary system. Whether it is to increase capital or expand the operation scale of the IMF, it will directly affect the right to speak of the United States in the IMF, and this reform oriented to the rise of the right to speak of other countries will lead to a corresponding decline in the right to speak of the United States. Therefore, on this issue, the United States and Europe, China and other countries may have certain conflicts of interest. "

Finally, Zhang Shiguo pointed out that in view of the positive role of other currencies in the future international financial system and the huge conflict of interests in the reform of the international monetary system, countries may focus on financial supervision and cooperation in the future. Strengthening international financial supervision will become the key point that affects the change of international financial order. The main measures that may be taken in the future include: 1 Transnational supervision; 2. The materialization of supervision institutions; 3. Regulatory standards are gradually improved; 4. The international community's supervision of the world's major currency reserve countries and the financial risk early warning system will also be gradually strengthened.