中英關係日益強化 英國發售人民幣國債

The UK has begun taking orders for a government bond denominated in China’s currency – a first for a western country.

英國發行了一隻以人民幣計價的政府債券，這在西方國家中爲首例。

According to the Treasury, the sale is proof of the strengthening relationship between the UK and China.

英國財政部表示，人民幣債券的發行，顯示出英中關係日益強化。

The sale is expected to raise about Rmb2bn, or £200m, the same size as the first Islamic government bond sold by UK this year – which attracted global investor orders of more than £2bn. In total the UK government plans to borrow £127bn from bond markets this financial year.

此次發行預計籌集約20億元人民幣（約2億英鎊），發行規模等同於英國今年發行的第一支伊斯蘭債券，後者已吸引全球投資者逾20億英鎊的申購。英國政府計劃本財年總共從債券市場籌集1270億英鎊。

By issuing debt in renminbi the UK is making a statement about its belief in the Chinese currency’s future in the international economic system. “Key to our long-term economic plan is increasing our exports to fast-growing economies like China,” said George Osborne, chancellor, last week. “To do that, we need to make sure China’s currency, the renminbi, is used and traded here.”

通過此次發行人民幣債券，英國政府表現出對人民幣在未來國際經濟體系中地位的信心。英國財政大臣喬治•奧斯本(George Osborne)上週表示：“對於我們的長期經濟規劃來說，關鍵在於加大對中國等快速增長的經濟體的出口……要做到這一點，我們必須確保中國的貨幣——人民幣——在英國得到使用和交易。”

The UK joins a host of governments and central banks in diverting reserves into the Chinese currency. Australia has announced its intention of holding 5 per cent of reserves in Chinese bonds, while Nigeria’s central bank keeps at least a 10th of its FX holdings in renminbi.

許多政府和央行正將人民幣納入外匯儲備，英國也是其中之一。澳大利亞已宣佈計劃將其外匯儲備的大約5%投資於中國國債，而尼日利亞央行外匯儲備中，人民幣資產佔到至少十分之一。

The pace of internationalisation has picked up in the past year with new currency swap agreements, clearing banks and renminbi investment quotas being agreed in several financial centres. Russia this week set up a currency swap facility with the People’s Bank of China.

過去一年人民幣加快了國際化的步伐。數國與中國簽訂了新的貨幣互換協議、建立起清算行，幾個世界金融中心間也就人民幣投資配額達成協議。本週，俄羅斯也與中國央行(People’s Bank of China)建立了貨幣互換機制。

While the UK bond is a first for a national government, the Canadian province of British Columbia became the first foreign government entity to sell a dim sum bond in late 2013.

儘管英國政府是首個發行人民幣債券的國家級政府，但加拿大的不列顛哥倫比亞省卻是首個發行人民幣債券的外國政府實體，該省於2013年底發行了“點心債”。

The dim sum bond market – renminbi-denominated issues outside mainland China – began in late 2009. So far this year dim sum issuance has doubled last year’s, according to figures from Dealogic, a data provider. The offshore market has typically offered lower funding costs than the onshore market.

點心債是在中國內地以外發行的以人民幣計價的債券。這一市場建立於2009年底。根據數據供應商Dealogic的數據，今年到目前爲止點心債發行量比去年增加了一倍。對融資者而言，離岸市場的融資成本通常比中國在岸市場低。

Most of the stellar growth has come from demand for capital from Chinese companies rather than multinationals.

這輪強勁增長主要來自中國企業的資金需求，而不是跨國公司。

Bank of China, HSBC and Standard Chartered have been employed to arrange the UK bond sale.

中國銀行(Bank of China)、匯豐銀行(HSBC)和渣打銀行(Standard Chartered)爲英國人民幣債券的指定承銷行。

The three banks joined the Treasury in holding an investor presentation about the bond in London this week and an online presentation aimed at Asian investors.

本週，這三家銀行與英國財政部共同在倫敦舉行了債券發行路演，以及面向亞洲投資者的網絡路演。