Reply #8: They were pegging the yuan to the dollar

[wickerwoman]

while the dollar was going down to keep the price of their exports and labor relatively low. (They pegged the yuan at 8.2 to the dollar for years even though the actual value of the dollar fell 20-30% purposefully undervaluing their currency to attract foreign investment.) They stopped about four years ago when the dollar started strengthening again and now the yuan is pegged to a basket of currencies (especially the Euro).

Since they own shit loads of our and the rest of the world's debt though, I think they have more clout than you're giving them credit for. And it doesn't make sense for the rest of the world's economies to have to depend on the poorly regulated banking industry of one country.