Of course, such radical reforms would face stiff opposition from entrenched interests: the export lobby which profited from a managed exchange rate, and the state companies which benefited from cheap loans. So Zhou sold his reforms by talking up the supposed glory of SDR membership.

In short, the SDR was a ruse to push through much-needed domestic liberalisation in the teeth of fierce opposition. In large measure the ruse succeeded, but that doesn’t mean the SDR is important, or even relevant.