The Chinese regime is hiding trillions of dollars in “shadow reserves,” according to an economist and former Obama-era Treasury Department official.
Mr. Brad Setser, who served on President Joe Biden’s 2020 transition Agency Review Team, recently warned that China possesses far more foreign exchange reserves than what the regime is reporting. He estimated in The China Project that Beijing likely has roughly $3 trillion “hidden,” something that could threaten the global economy in the future.
“China is so big that how it manages its economy and currency matters enormously to the world,” he said on June 29. “Yet over time, the way it manages its currency and its foreign exchange reserves has become much less transparent—creating new kinds of risks for the global economy.”
According to data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), China officially has $3.204 trillion in foreign assets on the books as of April 2023. Beijing’s war chest consists of cash, bonds, bank deposits, gold, and other currencies.
The former deputy assistant Treasury secretary for international economic analysis noted that the country’s sudden pause in its reporting activity was a key hint at the present state of China’s reserves.
