Migrant Flows and Trans-Border Flying Money in Central Asia.

One of the oldest forms of international financial activity is the ancient Chinese system of flying money, or fei qian. The system involves virtual exchanges of value that do not entail movement of currency or of anything of value to those who might seek to intervene in the exchange. Central Asian traders in the Middle Ages used this system as a means of avoiding robbery along the Asian Silk Road. Today a variant of this ancient system, today widely known as hawala, functions to facilitate substantial amounts of trade in a non-transparent manner throughout the world. Based on interviews and survey research in Central Asia, this paper analyzes the experience of Central Asian shuttle traders in trans-border settling of financial accounts. The paper generalizes from the observed mechanisms to describe broader features of systems of flying money. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]