温家宝总理接受《华盛顿邮报》总编唐尼采访(4)
唐:还是关于纺织品问题。尽管中国做了许多,但美国还是采取了这样的行动,这是否使你感到意外,中国还会采取什么样的措施?
Q: Given everything you've told me so far, were you surprised then by the action on textiles and is there anything China needs to do in response?
温:不仅使我感到意外,也使我感到震惊,使中国人民感到意外和震惊。为了价值仅4亿-5亿美元的纺织品,在未同中国事先商谈的情况下,单方面公布这样的限制措施,应该说十分伤害中国人民的感情。不知道你是不是注意到了国际的反应和专家的反应,这种决策甚至影响到美国的市场。我又要用中国的一句话,“不畏浮云遮望眼,只缘身在最高层。”我们应该用登泰山一览众山小的战略眼光来看待我们的经贸合作和其他方面的合作关系。
我们之间应该建立经常性的协调和合作机制,解决经贸关系中出现的问题。这是我这次访美要提的建议。这种机制能够保证我们通过平等协商来处理两国的争端,而不要动辄制裁和限制。那样不仅于事无补,而且会损害两国的利益。我希望纺织品问题能够通过双方协商妥善加以解决。
A: I'm not just surprised, I'm shocked and the Chinese people have been surprised and shocked. This unilateral restrictive action, occurring just at the time when the Chinese people were expressing their sincerity and involving textile products only worth $400-500 million and without any prior discussion with the Chinese government, seriously wounded the feelings of the Chinese people. I wonder if you have taken note of by the response by the international community and the reaction of experts in the field. Such a decision has hurt the US market. I want to invoke another Chinese saying: We should not be afraid of the dark clouds blocking our view because we are already at a high elevation. With respect to our joint cooperation in trade and in cooperation in other areas, it is important to adopt a strategic perspective like the view you would have when you are already on top of Mount Tai. Then all other mountains would be dwarfed.
We still hope between the China and the U.S. we can establish a mechanism for regular discussion and coordination and cooperation to tackle the problems that might come up. This will be one of the proposals I will bring to the United States because I think such a mechanism would play a positive role in solving problems. The establishment of such a mechanism will provide guarantees for equal consultations as a way to handle our disputes. Arbitrarily imposing sanctions or restrictions will not help solve the problem. On the contrary, it will hurt the interests of both sides.
唐:有人说,调整中国人民币的汇率政策有助于改进中美贸易状况,你同意这种观点吗?
Q: What is your thinking about the suggestion that changing the way in which the Chinese currency is valued would make a contribution to the trade relations between the two countries?
温:人民币汇率改革始于1994年。我们当时确定的机制是以市场供求为基础,单一的、有管理的浮动汇率。有人说,人民币汇率固定不变,这不是事实。浮动的幅度小,这是事实。1994年到现在,人民币实际对美元升值了18.5%,对欧元升值39.4%。1997年亚洲发生金融风暴后,我们顶住了要求人民币贬值的压力。从那个时候起,人民币浮动幅度小了。
我认为一个国家汇率制度应该从这个国家的国情出发,依据它的经济和金融发展状况来决定。毋庸讳言,我们金融改革的任务还十分艰巨,我们在1996年才实行经常项目下的人民币可兑换,但是实行资本项目下的人民币完全可兑换,还需要长时间的艰苦努力。我可以明确向你表示,我们一定要加快金融改革,而且在加快金融改革的进程中探索人民币面向市场浮动的合理的汇率形成机制。
我不认为人民币汇率是影响中美贸易不平衡的重要因素,中国产品出口增加,最重要的是中国拥有丰富而又有竞争力的劳动力。
A: We first began reforming our exchange rate regime in 1994. It was decided at that time that we would adopt a market-based, single, regulated floating exchange rate regime. Some people claim the value of the RENMINBI is fixed and has not changed. This does not square with the facts. I think it would be more accurate to say that the band of fluctuation of the RENMINBI is quite narrow. Since 1994, the RENMINBI has appreciated in real terms by 18.5 percent against the U.S. dollar and by 39.4 percent against the Euro. In 1997, during the Asian financial crisis, we withstood pressure for RENMINBI devaluation and since then, the band of fluctuation of the value of the RENMINBI has been quite narrow.
The exchange rate of the currency a country should be set in accordance to its national conditions and the state of its economic and financial sector. There is no denying we still face very daunting tasks in financial and banking reform. We have already allowed our currency to be freely convertible under current account in 1996, and it will take a very long period of time and arduous efforts before we can achieve the objective of a freely convertible currency under the capital account. We are definitely going to accelerate reform of the financial and banking sector and while we do so we抣l explore how to form a rational mechanism in which the value of the RENMINBI will fluctuate on the basis of market conditions.
I don‘t think the exchange rate of the RENMINBI is an important contributor to the trade imbalance between China and the U.S. If there is any important contributor to the trade imbalance, I think it is the abundant supply of competitive labor in China's market.
(编辑:twinx)