Is the yuan undervalued relative to its economic fundamentals?
Core argument: Goldman Sachs puts the yuan 25% below fair value on a weighted average of two models, against a traded level of about 7.06 per US dollar on Wednesday.
The Goldman Sachs Dynamic Equilibrium Exchange Rate (GSDEER), which posits that exchange rates will eventually reflect differences in productivity and terms of trade, has the yuan’s fair value pegged at 5 per US dollar. The currency traded at around 7.06 on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Goldman Sachs Fundamental Effective Exchange Rate (GSFEER) framework, which tracks the current account’s influence on exchange rates, finds the yuan 12% undervalued. The weighted average of the two models has the currency pegged at 25% below its fair value. Forwards contracts for the fourth quarter of 2026 price the currency offshore at 6.91 per dollar, or about 2% stronger than its current level, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

