Zhou Xiaochuan said a new and widely accepted reserve currency with a stable valuation benchmark may take a long time.

In his paper, Zhou Xiaochuan called for a reduction in the dominance of a few individual currencies in international trade and finance. He pointed out that moving to a reserve currency that belongs to no individual country would make it easier for all nations to manage their economies better. He said it would give the reserve currency countries more freedom to shift monetary policies and exchange rates.

However, Zhou Xiaochuan said a new and widely accepted reserve currency with a stable valuation benchmark may take a long time.

(CCTV April 7, 2009)