人民币和日元直接交易缓慢启动

Direct trading between the Japanese yen and the Chinese renminbi has made a sluggish start, checked by fears of a slowdown in China and the spreading effects of a territorial dispute between Asia’s two largest economies.

日元与人民币之间的直接交易已经缓慢启动，其制约因素包括各方担心中国经济增长放缓，以及亚洲两大经济体领土纠纷所产生的冲击波。

Six months ago, the simultaneous launch of direct trading hubs in Shanghai and Tokyo was billed by governments on both sides as a way to cement financial ties while reducing mutual dependence on the US dollar.

6个月前，中日在上海和东京同时发起直接交易中心，此举被两国政府誉为加强金融联系、减轻双方对美元依赖的一种方式。

But with companies reviewing funding requirements amid a steady drop-off in bilateral trade, and with tensions exacerbated over competing claims to a chain of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, direct settlement between the two currencies has yet to take off.

但是，随着企业在双边贸易下降之际重审资金需求，随着中日对东海一个无人居住的群岛相互冲突的主权主张所引发的紧张加剧，两种货币之间的直接结算尚未起飞。

In Shanghai, average daily turnover in renminbi/yen trading is about $450m, while in Tokyo it is just $90m, according to estimates from traders.

据交易员们估计，在上海，人民币/日元交易的日均成交量为大约4.5亿美元，而东京的交易量只有9000万美元。

“At the moment, there is no big incentive for Japanese companies to start using the renminbi, said Akira Hoshino, head of FX trading at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan’s largest bank.

“眼下日本企业没有开始使用人民币的强大动力，日本最大银行三菱东京UFJ银行(Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ)外汇交易部门首席经理星野昭(Akira Hoshino)表示。

Overall, renminbi-denominated trade accounts for less than 1 per cent of the total value of trade between Japan and China, say analysts. Total trade stood at Y13.1tn ($160bn) – a fifth of Japan’s total – in the first six months of this year.

分析师们表示，总体而言，以人民币计价的贸易在日中贸易总额中的比重不到1%。今年前6个月，日中贸易总额达到13.1万亿日元（合1600亿美元），占日本对外贸易的五分之一。

Promoting the use of the yen and renminbi in cross-border transactions had been the centrepiece of a broad programme for “enhanced co-operation in financial markets between Beijing and Tokyo, drawn up last December.

在双边贸易中增加使用日元和人民币，是两国在去年12月制定的总体规划的核心内容，这一规划旨在加强中日金融市场的合作。

However, market participants in the Japanese capital say renminbi/yen liquidity is still so shallow that it often makes sense for traders to convert yen and renminbi to the dollar as an intermediate step.

不过，东京的市场参与者表示，人民币/日元的流动性仍如此缺乏深度，以至于交易员经常发现，他们还不如先把日元和人民币兑换成美元作为一个中间步骤。