温家宝总理接受《华盛顿邮报》总编唐尼采访(3)
唐:中国是美国重要的贸易伙伴,然而美国政府最近宣布,要对中国某些纺织品的出口设限。你认为中国有必要采取报复措施吗?
Q: Another issue in U.S.-Chinese relations is trade. China is a very large trading partner of the United States. Recently, the Bush administration announced its intention to restrict some exports of Chinese textiles. Do you believe it will be necessary for China to take retaliatory action?
温:中美经贸关系中产生的问题应该得到妥善的处理,因为发展中美经贸关系,符合两国人民的根本利益。在1972年,就是30年前,中美贸易几乎没有统计数字。基辛格访问中国的时候,只允许美国人带100美元到中国来买东西。中美贸易有确切统计数字始于1979年,不到25亿美元。经过25年,中美贸易额达到了1000亿美元,增长了40倍。应该说,这对于两国人民都是有利的。
我知道,美方关心美中贸易逆差问题。我想说明几句,第一,美中贸易逆差是结构性和转移性的。当美中贸易逆差扩大的时候,中国对亚洲许多国家的逆差也在扩大。中国今年1至10月出口增长32%,但进口增长40%。
第二,中国出口的产品,65%是中外合资或者是外国独资企业生产的。一半以上是来料加工。出口产品中的许多丰厚利润,都被外商拿走了。这里就包含了美国设在中国的企业,比如像摩托罗拉、沃尔玛。
第三,中国出口到美国的商品是美国民众需要的,而且物美价廉,这些商品出口到美国有利于稳定美国的物价,也有利于满足美国人民生活的日常需要。
第四,中国不追求长期过大的贸易顺差,我们贸易政策的基本原则是进出基本平衡。我们愿意开放市场,从美国以及其他国家多进口产品,特别是高科技产品。
前不久,中国有几个采购团到美国,签订了几十亿美元的合同,表明了中国的诚意。但是我们也希望,美国也应该给予中国市场经济国家的地位,对中国不要加以限制,也应该开放市场。有一个例子大概你知道,几年前中国向劳拉卫星公司定购一颗卫星,并支付了1.3亿美元定金。但是美国有关方面不同意,因此这个合同至今没有兑现,1.3亿美元也没有退还。
实际上,这种限制完全影响不了中国的发展和进步。正是在这几年,中国不断发射卫星,甚至把飞船送上了天。一些数控机床、计算机,中国自己都能够研制,而且某些方面并不落后,但是美国方面还把它们列入限制对华出口产品。
A: First, I want to say that the problems that crop up in our bilateral trade and economic cooperation must be handled properly. These questions must be handled properly because the expansion of trade and the development of economic cooperation between us serve the fundamental interests of the Chinese and American peoples. We all may need to recall that in 1972 when the door was open to our relationship 30 years ago, our trade was practically nil. At the time Dr. [Henry] Kissinger visited China, each visiting American to China was only allowed to carry $100 to spend in the Chinese economy. We only started to have statistics about our trade in 1979, and in that year the trade volume was less than $2.5 billion. Now, after 25 years our joint cooperation and trade has developed significantly and trade volume has already reached $100 billion -- that's a 40-fold increase. So you can see the development of such a trade relationship has served the interests of both peoples.
I am aware of the U.S. concern over the huge trade imbalance. I would like to give you a few explanations. First, such a trade imbalance is to a great extent structural and a result of shifting commercial relations. I will give you one example. While the trade deficit that exists between China and the U.S. is going up, China's trade deficit in our trade with Asian countries is also going up at the same time. In the first 10 months of this year, China's exports grew by 32 percent, however our imports grew by 40 percent.
Second, if you look at our export structure, actually Sino-foreign joint ventures or wholly foreign-owned enterprises contribute to 65 percent of our total exports and more than half of our exports involve the processing of imported material or parts, and the majority of profits actually go to the foreign investors. These enterprises include the U.S.-invested enterprises in China, such as Motorola and Wal-Mart.
Third, what we sell to the U.S. market are the products that U.S. consumers need, and Chinese products are affordable but of very good quality. So our exports actually help stabilize the price in the U.S. markets and also satisfy the needs of U.S. consumers.
Fourth, it is not China's aim to seek long-term and excessive trade surpluses. Our aim in trade policy is to have a basic balance between imports and exports. We are willing to open up our markets to buy more from the United States and other countries, especially to purchase high-tech products.
Not so long ago, we sent a few purchasing missions to the United States and they signed contracts worth billions of U.S. dollars. That demonstrates our sincerity. At the same time, we hope that the United States would grant market economy status to China and lift restrictions on China and open up its market. And we also hope you will lift restrictions on exports to China. I can give you an example. A few years ago, China placed an order for a Loral satellite and we paid a deposit of more than $150 million. However, someone in the U.S. did not want to see a Chinese rocket being used to launch the Loral satellite. Hence, the contract was not implemented and the $150 million deposit has not been refunded.
In reality, these restrictions will not hinder China's development. In the past few years, China has continuously sent satellites successfully into orbit and we also have our space program. For instance, some digital machine tools, some computers -- with respect to these projects, China already has very strong R&D capabilities and in certain areas were are actually at the forefront. Nevertheless, the United States still places these products on the list of restricted items.
(编辑:twinx)