The intervention of central bank in foreign exchange market is generally perceived as a typical mechanism to diminish imports and stimulate exports. Yet, international economic law in this area is largely characterised by soft law and informal coordination and therefore, poorly developed to deal with what many states consider the province of their national sovereignty. This issue has in the last few years moved to centre stage because of China’s exchange rate policy. This paper explores the theoretical underpinnings of foreign exchange rate policy in the context of international monetary and trade law and how these two systems of law can relevantly contribute to unlocking the mystery of the controversial issue of currency misalignment.
Dr. Hodu is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Commercial Law and the Director of LLM and MA Programmes at the University of Manchester school of Law, UK. His areas of teaching and research interests include the law and economics of the world trading system, Public International Law, international business law (broadly-speaking), international development law, the development aspects of regional integration, Arbitration, SINO – African trade and African trade relations with the EU, and the US. He has published books and numerous articles in these areas. He currently supervised about eight PhD students in these areas. He is a visiting Professors to universities in Europe and Africa. He has also been a visiting Professor to many Chinese Academic Institutions, i.e. Wuhan University Law School, Fudan University Law School, University of Peking. Yenkong is a barrister and solicitor. He is a member of numerous professional and academics organizations. He is a member of the Finnish Lawyers Association, International Law Association (Committee on International Trade Law), Max Planck Institute for comparative Public Law and International Law’s Research Group, European Law and Economics Association) (ELEA) etc. Yenkong has provided advisory services to many governments in Africa, Nordic countries, the WTO, UN, Central Banks and other regional organizations on trade and monetary issues.
Before coming to Manchester, he was a senior researcher and head of Global Trade and Regional Integration programme at the Nordic Africa Institute (NAI) in Uppsala-Sweden. As a programme coordinator at NAI, he conducted research and undertook teaching on International business law, the Law of Regional Trade and Investment Agreements with the focus on developing countries’ issues of concern to trade officials, graduates and postgraduate students in Europe and Africa. He also provided consultancy services upon request to international organizations such as the WTO, UN, Commonwealth Secretariat in London and African governments seeking to enter into RTAs with other WTO Members on trade law, international monetary law and on Sino-African trade and investment relations.
In recognition of his contributions in the development of international trade law, the Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organization (composed of representatives from all WTO Members) appointed him to be a member of the prestigious Roster of WTO Non-Governmental Panelists eligible for Panel service. For academics in the field of international economic law, being on the roster of the WTO Non-Governmental Panelists represents a great career achievement.