China, Japan agree on joint currency unit

Asia's two economic giants have arrived at "an unusual consensus" to support an Asian Currency Unit, the Financial Times reported. An Asian currency could reduce reliance on the dollar. In a speech Tuesday at the Australian National University, senior Chinese economist Fan Gang, head of the National Economic Research Institute, said China's growth has swept away concerns the government originally had about the Japanese yen dominating any kind of joint financial unit. The Asian Currency Unit would not be a first step towards a euro-style currency but rather a benchmark to denominate exports and price bonds and other financial instruments. An ACU-like index was first proposed by Japan after the regional financial crash in 1997.