美國再度對人民幣匯率表示不滿

The US government has put its dissatisfaction with what it sees as the artificially low Chinese exchange rate back on the political agenda.

美國政府再次對中國匯率表達不滿，認爲人民幣匯率被人爲壓低了。

At a meeting in Beijing, US Treasury deputy secretary Sarah Bloom Raskin asked China's Minister of Finance Lou Jiwei, and central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan to move to a market-determined exchange rate for the renminbi, the Treasury said.

美國財政部(Treasury)表示，在北京的一次會晤中，美國財政部副部長薩拉•布盧姆•拉斯金向中國財政部長樓繼偉和中國央行行長周小川提出要求，將人民幣匯率交由市場決定。

Beijing authorities keep a firm hand on the renminbi's value. The People's Bank of China sets the dollar-renminbi rate each morning, then guides trading throughout the day.

目前中國當局仍然嚴格控制人民幣匯率。中國央行每天早上會設定人民幣兌美元匯率的中間價，此後還會引導全天的外匯交易。

Many US politicians have argued that if the renminbi were fairly valued it would rise in value, which could bring manufacturing jobs back to the US.

許多美國政界人士聲稱，若人民幣得到公平估值，匯率將會上漲，這會讓製造業崗位迴流美國。

From the Treasury's statement on Wednesday: “Deputy Secretary Raskin emphasized our interest in the decisive implementation of China's economic reform agenda, including the importance of moving to a market-determined exchange rate.”

美國財政部週三發佈的聲明表示：“副部長拉斯金強調了我們對中國果斷實施經濟改革議程的關注，其中還提到了中國轉而以市場決定匯率的重要性。”

Ms Raskin also discussed the issue of China's development banks providing cheap credit to Chinese exporters, which the US fears will crowd out its own Export-Import Bank and the US exporters it supports.

拉斯金還提到了中國多家開發銀行爲中國出口商提供廉價信貸的問題。美國擔心，中國這麼做，會將美國自身的進出口銀行(Export-Import Bank)及其支持的美國出口商擠出市場。

The statement continued: “The Deputy Secretary also reiterated the importance of the negotiations in the International Working Group on Export Credits for a new set of horizontal international export credit guidelines, one of the economic commitments from the S&ED, which would help level the playing field for U.S. exporters.”

聲明中還提到：“副部長還重申，在出口信貸國際工作組(International Working Group on Export Credits)內開展磋商，設立一套新的橫向國際出口信貸指導意見非常重要。這是美中戰略經濟對話(S&ED)在經濟議題上的責任之一，有助於爲美國出口商爭取公平的競爭環境。”

In April, Washington warned Beijing not to go back to manipulating its currency after China's central bank acted to lower the value of the renminbi.

今年4月，在中國央行採取行動壓低人民幣匯率之後，美國政府曾警告中國政府，不要重返操縱匯率的老路。

Many analysts have said, however, that China's financial policy makers tend to engineer the renminbi lower to stop speculators ploughing money into the country to buy Chinese assets, instead of as a trade weapon.

不過，許多分析師此前曾表示，中國金融決策者壓低人民幣匯率，是爲了阻止投機者將資金注入中國收購中國資產，而不是爲了把它當做貿易武器。