Little noticed during last weekend's milestone summit between Barack Obama and Xi Jinping was another landmark event: China's currency hit a record high, reaching almost 6 yuan to the dollar.
In recent years, one of the few things Republicans and Democrats could agree upon was that an artificially cheap yuan damaged U.S. exports and stole U.S. jobs. The currency's climb thus seemed like a nod from China's president to America's, a quiet signal that Xi understands how sensitive the issue is. During Obama's time in office, in fact, the yuan has risen more than 10 percent in value. Talk of a currency war has faded.
Of course, a stronger yuan means a different kind of problem for corporate America. This will dawn on executives as they begin to see the prefix "+86" — China's country code — on more and more incoming phone calls. Just as Chinese consumers now have more money in their wallets to spend, so do Chinese companies. They could well embark on a shopping spree far more earthshaking than the Obama-Xi summit.