China's central bank has Trump headache amid US policy flux

Beijing

AS if defusing the world's biggest debt bomb while keeping economic growth humming wasn't tough enough, Donald Trump's shock election victory has just made the policy outlook even more complex for People's Bank of China (PBOC) governor Zhou Xiaochuan.

The US president-elect's threats to slap tariffs of up to 45 per cent on Chinese imports have cast a shadow over the economy's stabilisation and the world's most crucial trade relationship. Protectionism may fuel more international use of the yuan, according to Standard Chartered Plc, while UBS Group AG says tariffs may push the PBOC to let the yuan fall further.

Longer-term ambitions like capital account opening and yuan internationalisation are also cloude…