I dont know much about this currency could someone explain exactly where it comes from and why its so hard to buy? cheers
Its China's national currency, its not a freely floated trade able currency on the forex markets. Its pegged to the USD. Slam
How much you want? If just small amount, I know westpac can do the exchange for you. But you need to pay very hight transaction fee. If you want very large amount, try this http://www.kvbkunlun.com/en/html/product/forex/offshoreRMB.aspx
Your an Aussie so your AUD is the next best thing to the Yuan (Renminbi). It's part of the reason the AUD is so strong right now. We are a carry trade for getting out of USD/Euro/Yen and investing in China where you can't do it really effectively on the open market. When the Yuan does freely float (IMO only) there will be a short period where the Yuan appreciates very fast and China will use this opportunity to keep their bubble going (internal growth). There is money to be made for the short period after this happens IMO. One that was playing this trade should have the finger ready on the ejection seat button. Just some crazy thoughts going through my head. Please feel free to disregard.
hehehe... I can offer swaps between RMB and silver or gold You might need to wait a few days for delivery though
If you want to deal with a more conventional bank account. There's the Bank of China, which has branches in Sydney and Melbourne. http://www.bocau.com.au/en/index.html Ask about the CNY Demand Deposit Account. http://www.bocau.com.au/en/1-9-425.html Also suggested that you spend another $14-16 and take a physical 100 RMB banknote. Yes, that is a picture of Chairman Mao. If the Chinese ever pull a 'Red Dawn' / 'Tomorrow When The War Began' on Australia - pull it out when the paratroopers land on the local football grounds.
Personally I would trade the Singapore dollar instead. I do not see any reason the why the RMB would outperform the Singapore dollar.
Singapore is really more a services based economy that's already developed, so to speak. China on the other hand is a developing country with much of its population and resources still underused. Also, there are those 'rumors' of using RMB as a reserve currency etc etc floating around, if they were true then RMB has good potential. Anyway, here's a little story I heard, may or may not be true. There was a criminal in China with billions of dollars and stuffed em everywhere in his home, the toilets, the sink, the floorboards etc. The newspapers reported that there was a lot of money, so much that the state officials pretty much said "wow I didn't know we had this much printed money". My parents, and many others at the time, said that the Chinese government had no idea how much money was in circulation in China, they just kept printing which was why the RMB was worthless! This was pre-WTO and pre-1997 so the flow of RMB into the markets wasn't that well. So yeah...RMB...USD...kettle meet pot.
Both currencies are held artificially low, but the big difference is that Singapore letting their currency rises to combat inflation. Also SIN can be traded easier. Years to come who knows, but this my personal short medium term prediction, but do not take it as a financial advise.
Yeah I'd also hold S$ over RMB right now, but in the years to come I think China's RMB will take over but this may be 5, 10, 100 years The Singaporean dollar is a relatively tiny currency, much like the AUD. Last I checked they only have around 300 billion (USD) worth of currency. They definitely know how to manage their currency imo.
