周小川可能卸任央行行长一职

The Chinese Communist party pulled the curtain down on its 18th Congress yesterday with the election of a new Central Committee, setting the stage for the long-awaited unveiling of its new leaders today.

中共十八大昨日落幕，选举产生了新一届中央委员会，为各方等待已久的新领导层今日亮相搭起了舞台。

State media said the 10 leading candidates for the Politburo Standing Committee, the small group at the pinnacle of political power in China, had been elected to the 205-member Central Committee.

官方媒体表示，中共中央政治局常委会（位于中国政治权力最高峰的小圈子）的10名领先候选人已入选205人组成的中央委员会。

Xi Jinping, who is expected to succeed Hu Jintao as party general secretary today and as president in March, led the list of Central Committee members, which included Li Keqiang, the man seen as successor to Wen Jiabao, premier.

习近平位于中央委员会名单榜首，预计他将于今日接替胡锦涛出任中共中央总书记，明年3月接任国家主席。这份名单还包括预计将接替温家宝出任总理的李克强。

The Central Committee today will pick a 25-member politburo, which in turn will select the standing committee.

中央委员会将在今日选举产生由25人组成的中共中央政治局，进而再选出政治局常委。

One key name left off yesterday’s list of Central Committee members was Zhou Xiaochuan, China’s central bank governor, signalling that he will probably retire in the coming months as the job must go to a member of the Central Committee.

有一个关键人物的姓名不在昨日出炉的中央委员会名单上，那就是中国央行行长周小川。这似乎表明，他很可能会在几个月内退休，由某一名中央委员接任央行行长。

Mr Zhou’s retirement, after a decade of nudging China’s financial system along a path of market reforms, will have little immediate impact on Chinese monetary policy. Unlike its counterparts in more developed economies, the People’s Bank of China lacks independence. The State Council, or cabinet, makes all key decisions such as whether to adjust interest rates, relegating the central bank to a more advisory role.

在谨慎推动中国金融体系走上市场化改革道路10年后，周小川的退休对中国货币政策不会产生什么即刻影响。与发达经济体的央行不同，中国人民银行并不具有独立性。所有关键决策（比如是否调整利率）都是由国务院作出的，中国央行扮演的是更接近于顾问的次要角色。

But Mr Zhou’s departure will still leave a big hole in Beijing where he is seen as having played a crucial role in orchestrating a series of reforms during his term, which began in 2002.

但周小川的离任仍将在北京留下一大空白，人们认为他在始于2002年的任期内策划了一系列改革，在这方面发挥了关键作用。

After the decision was taken in 2005 to unpeg China’s currency, the renminbi, from the dollar, Mr Zhou presided over the development of a floating exchange rate mechanism. Although foreign critics continue to accuse China of keeping its currency undervalued, the renminbi has risen more than 30 per cent against the dollar since then.

在2005年中国作出人民币不再盯住美元的决策后，周小川主持开发了一套浮动汇率机制。虽然外国批评者继续指控中国人为压低人民币汇率，但自那以来人民币兑美元汇率已上升逾30%。

In the list of “top 10 politicians elected to the Central Committee TingVoa.com, the state news agency, named Wang Qishan, a veteran vice-premier in charge of the economy, and Liu Yunshan, the current head of the propaganda department. The list also included Liu Yandong, the party’s most senior female politician, and Li Yuanchao, the head of the party department that deals with personnel issues.

据官方的新华社报道，进入新一届中央委员会的10名主要领导包括长期分管经济的副总理王岐山和现任中宣部部长的刘云山。这份名单还包括中共最资深的女官员刘延东和中组部部长李源潮。

The congress also amended the party’s constitution to enshrine the importance of “ecological progress, acknowledging the heavy toll environmental degradation has taken on during China’s decades of rapid growth.

十八大还修改了党章，写入“生态文明建设的重要性，承认中国数十年快速增长造成了沉重的环境退化代价。

At this year’s congress pollution has been a higher priority than ever before.

在今年的党代会上，污染问题在议程上占据空前高的位置。