IMF Turnaround on the Yuan

For years, China has been accused of being a "currency manipulator" by deliberately undervaluing its currency to spur exports. Official bodies like the International Monetary Fund softened the language by using the term "misaligned currency" and used sophisticated techniques to gauge how far the yuan was from its fundamental equilibrium value.

In 2011, former U.S. assistant treasury secretary C. Fred Bergsten contended that the yuan was as much as 30 percent below its equilibrium level, and that "China's currency policy" should be regarded "as the most protectionist measure taken by any major country since World War II."