Ep. 127: James Fok on the US-China Financial Cold War, Dollar Dominance and Role of HK 

James Fok is a veteran financial and strategic advisor to corporations and governments. He served as a senior executive at Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) from 2012 until 2021. While there, he played a major role in a number of landmark financial markets initiatives, including the launch of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect programme (2014), Bond Connect (2017) and the Hong Kong market’s Listing Reforms (2018). Prior to HKEX, Fok worked as an investment banker in both Europe and Asia, specialising in the financial services sector. James is the author of the recently published book: Financial Cold War: A View of Sino-US Relations from the Financial Markets (2021). In this podcast we discuss: 

1. The impact of the global financial crisis on the US and China 
2. How US-China relations have shifted since the Second World War 
3. China’s demographic challenge 
4. China dynastic history and what it tells us about China 
5. The need for China capital market reforms 
6. Reliance of China on the US dollar financial system 
7. The impact of Russia sanctions 
8. Costs to the US of dollar dominance 
9. Why Cold War analogies are incorrect 
10. How China’s reliance on food and energy imports affects its view on US containment policies 
11. Potential reforms to reduce US-China tensions 
12. The role of HK as a bridge between East and West 
13. Books that influenced James: The Quiet American (Greene) and Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China (Vogel) 

You can find James’ new book ‘Financial Cold War’ here. James’ website is here and his LinkedIn account is here.  

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(The commentary contained in the above article does not constitute an offer or a solicitation, or a recommendation to implement or liquidate an investment or to carry out any other transaction. It should not be used as a basis for any investment decision or other decision. Any investment decision should be based on appropriate professional advice specific to your needs.)