China's currency losing its shine in global markets

Beijing

LAST week's decision by MSCI not to include Chinese shares in its primary emerging-markets stock index has been viewed - widely and rightly - as a blow to China's hopes of internationalising its financial sector. There's worse news, though: Even the progress China's made thus far is in danger of going into reverse.

MSCI's choice is a sharp contrast to the one made by the International Monetary Fund last December, when it promised to begin including the Chinese yuan in its basket of "special drawing rights".