中英关系日益强化 英国发售人民币国债

The UK has begun taking orders for a government bond denominated in China’s currency – a first for a western country.

英国发行了一只以人民币计价的政府债券，这在西方国家中为首例。

According to the Treasury, the sale is proof of the strengthening relationship between the UK and China.

英国财政部表示，人民币债券的发行，显示出英中关系日益强化。

The sale is expected to raise about Rmb2bn, or £200m, the same size as the first Islamic government bond sold by UK this year – which attracted global investor orders of more than £2bn. In total the UK government plans to borrow £127bn from bond markets this financial year.

此次发行预计筹集约20亿元人民币（约2亿英镑），发行规模等同于英国今年发行的第一支伊斯兰债券，后者已吸引全球投资者逾20亿英镑的申购。英国政府计划本财年总共从债券市场筹集1270亿英镑。

By issuing debt in renminbi the UK is making a statement about its belief in the Chinese currency’s future in the international economic system. “Key to our long-term economic plan is increasing our exports to fast-growing economies like China,” said George Osborne, chancellor, last week. “To do that, we need to make sure China’s currency, the renminbi, is used and traded here.”

通过此次发行人民币债券，英国政府表现出对人民币在未来国际经济体系中地位的信心。英国财政大臣乔治•奥斯本(George Osborne)上周表示：“对于我们的长期经济规划来说，关键在于加大对中国等快速增长的经济体的出口……要做到这一点，我们必须确保中国的货币——人民币——在英国得到使用和交易。”

The UK joins a host of governments and central banks in diverting reserves into the Chinese currency. Australia has announced its intention of holding 5 per cent of reserves in Chinese bonds, while Nigeria’s central bank keeps at least a 10th of its FX holdings in renminbi.

许多政府和央行正将人民币纳入外汇储备，英国也是其中之一。澳大利亚已宣布计划将其外汇储备的大约5%投资于中国国债，而尼日利亚央行外汇储备中，人民币资产占到至少十分之一。

The pace of internationalisation has picked up in the past year with new currency swap agreements, clearing banks and renminbi investment quotas being agreed in several financial centres. Russia this week set up a currency swap facility with the People’s Bank of China.

过去一年人民币加快了国际化的步伐。数国与中国签订了新的货币互换协议、建立起清算行，几个世界金融中心间也就人民币投资配额达成协议。本周，俄罗斯也与中国央行(People’s Bank of China)建立了货币互换机制。

While the UK bond is a first for a national government, the Canadian province of British Columbia became the first foreign government entity to sell a dim sum bond in late 2013.

尽管英国政府是首个发行人民币债券的国家级政府，但加拿大的不列颠哥伦比亚省却是首个发行人民币债券的外国政府实体，该省于2013年底发行了“点心债”。

The dim sum bond market – renminbi-denominated issues outside mainland China – began in late 2009. So far this year dim sum issuance has doubled last year’s, according to figures from Dealogic, a data provider. The offshore market has typically offered lower funding costs than the onshore market.

点心债是在中国内地以外发行的以人民币计价的债券。这一市场建立于2009年底。根据数据供应商Dealogic的数据，今年到目前为止点心债发行量比去年增加了一倍。对融资者而言，离岸市场的融资成本通常比中国在岸市场低。

Most of the stellar growth has come from demand for capital from Chinese companies rather than multinationals.

这轮强劲增长主要来自中国企业的资金需求，而不是跨国公司。

Bank of China, HSBC and Standard Chartered have been employed to arrange the UK bond sale.

中国银行(Bank of China)、汇丰银行(HSBC)和渣打银行(Standard Chartered)为英国人民币债券的指定承销行。

The three banks joined the Treasury in holding an investor presentation about the bond in London this week and an online presentation aimed at Asian investors.

本周，这三家银行与英国财政部共同在伦敦举行了债券发行路演，以及面向亚洲投资者的网络路演。