As the world's fastest-growing big economy, with the biggest current-account surplus and foreign reserves, its currency ought by rights to be rising.

ECONOMIST: China's smile diplomacy shows its teeth

China's economy is protected by its current-account surplus and vast reserves, but its banking system would be hurt by an abrupt withdrawal.

ECONOMIST: Capital inflows to China

Yet mitigating the risk of default is the fact that Ecuador's ability to service its debt has improved in recent months, as high energy prices, increased taxation of the oil sector and the state's take-over of Block 15 previously run by a US company, Occidental Petroleum (Oxy), are boosting the fiscal surplus and foreign reserves.

ECONOMIST: Ecuador's radical new president promises big changes

Of the three approaches, methods 1 and 3, using currency shares and empirics respectively to adjust for currency valuation effects, result in robust relationships between changes in currency-adjusted FX reserves and the BOP surplus, whereas method 2 using forex purchases as an alternative proxy for adjusted FX reserves is inferior.

FORBES: How Much Longer Can China Accumulate Reserves?

The island runs a large trade surplus, and its foreign reserves are the world's fourth largest, behind China, Japan, and Russia.

FORBES: Taiwan

Adviser Carlton Delfeld of Chartwell Global ETF Report likes Switzerland for its strong currency backed by ample gold reserves, fiscal discipline, trade surplus and very little foreign debt.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Surplus countries built up their foreign-exchange reserves.

ECONOMIST: The link between exchange rates and asset markets

In a little-noticed comment during the weekend's meetings, Yi Gang, a deputy governor of China's central bank and head of the country's foreign-exchange reserves, said that China aimed to bring its current-account surplus below 4% of GDP within 3-5 years.

ECONOMIST: Currency wars

Reserves fell in China during the last quarter of 2011 partly owing to the narrowing in its current account surplus.

WHITEHOUSE: The Los Cabos Growth and Jobs Action Plan