State-sponsored money and the new market order

Sovereign wealth of nations

Asia has emerged during the past decade with many of the world's largest state funds. These funds include central bank reserves, social security funds, state pension funds, investment authorities and stabilisation funds. Indeed, the size of many state funds has continued to grow despite the onset of the recent global financial crisis, with countries such as China and South Korea increasing their foreign currency reserves.

China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan each hold more