中国将在深圳建人民币可兑换特区

China plans to create a special zone to experiment with currency convertibility in Shenzhen, the city where it introduced key economic reforms three decades ago.

中国计划在深圳创建一个特区，用于开展人民币可兑换的试验。30年前，中国在深圳启动了关键的经济改革。

The measure will enable Hong Kong banks to lend renminbi directly to companies in Qianhai Bay – a new economic zone on a peninsula across the water from Hong Kong – according to Chinese state media.

据中国官方媒体报道，此举将使香港各银行能够直接向前海湾的企业发放人民币贷款。前海湾是一个新的经济区，坐落在一个半岛上，与香港隔水相望。

Beijing will unveil the details today as Hu Jintao, Chinese president, visits Hong Kong for the 15th anniversary of the handover of the city from Britain.

北京方面将在周五公布细节，以配合中国国家主席胡锦涛前往香港参加香港从英国回归15周年纪念日。

Analysts say the experiment could prove as critical to dismantling capital controls as Deng Xiaoping's reforms were to opening China to the world.

分析师们表示，就解除资本管制而言，这项试验的关键程度，可能不亚于邓小平当年设计的改革对中国向世界开放起到的推动作用。

The Qianhai experiment follows a series of steps taken by the Chinese government to move towards making the renminbi a convertible currency that analysts believe could one day vie with the US dollar for pre-eminence.

在前海启动人民币可兑换试验之前，中国政府采取了一系列步骤，推动人民币向可兑换货币的方向前进，分析师们相信，有朝一日人民币有望与美元争夺霸主地位。

Over the past two years, Chinese companies have been allowed to settle most of their international trade in renminbi. This has provided a conduit for the currency to flow abroad for the first time in large volumes.

过去两年期间，中国企业已获准用人民币结算多数国际贸易。这为人民币大量流向海外首次提供了一条渠道。

Foreign institutions have also been given a limited but growing array of investment options for their renminbi holdings, such as Hong Kong's dim sum bond market and a programme for buying Chinese equities.

持有人民币的境外机构也已得到数量有限、但不断增加的投资选择，如香港的“点心债券"市场和购买中国内地股票的一个机制。

But China has installed measures to ensure the renminbi cannot travel freely across the border for pure financial transactions. Beijing is aware that hasty capital account openings can spark situations such as the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Allowing Hong Kong banks to lend to Chinese companies on the mainland creates a new, potentially wide channel for renminbi held overseas to flow back to China.

但中国也实行各项措施，以确保人民币不能为了纯粹的金融交易而自由跨越国界。中国高层明白，仓促的资本账户开放可能引发类似1997年亚洲金融危机的情形。允许香港各银行向中国内地的企业放贷，则将创建一条潜在相当宽敞的新渠道，让海外持有的人民币回流中国。

Banks in Hong Kong are allowed to lend to Chinese clients in Hong Kong, but not in China. If the Chinese clients want to bring that money into China, they need to obtain approval from the regulator. The new rules are expected to eliminate many of those controls to make it possible for Hong Kong banks to directly lend to Chinese clients in Shenzhen.

目前香港各银行被允许向香港的中国内地客户放贷，但不能在内地向内地客户放贷。如果中国客户想要把资金汇回中国，他们需要获得监管部门许可。预计新规则将消除许多此类管制，使香港各银行能够直接向深圳的中国内地客户放贷。

In 1980, Shenzhen was designated the country's first special economic zone, bringing foreign investment and free trade to China, and launching the country on its way to becoming the world's second largest economy.

1980年，深圳被指定为中国第一个经济特区，引入外资和自由贸易，进而推动中国开启高速发展时代，最终成为全球第二大经济体。

Liu Ligang, an economist at ANZ, said the risks of the latest measure were greater than those attached to the 1980s opening. He said China had to ease its control of interest rates and deepen the domestic bond market before opening the capital account to lessen the risk of speculative capital rushing in and local companies accumulating dangerously big foreign debts.

澳新银行(ANZ)经济学家刘利刚表示，最新措施的风险大于上世纪80年代的改革开放。他表示，中国必须先放松其对利率的控制，并提高国内债券市场的深度，再开放资本账户，以减轻投机资本蜂拥而至、本土企业积累过多外债的风险。

Separately yesterday, the stock exchanges of Hong Kong, Shanghai and Shenzhen said they would create a joint venture index company to give investors access to companies listed in all three cities for the first time and boost their capital markets.

另外，香港、上海和深圳三地的证交所昨日表示，它们将创建一家合资指数公司，使投资者能够首次投资于在所有三个城市上市的公司，促进三个城市资本市场的发展。

Additional reporting by Paul J. Davies in Hong Kong