VOA标准英语2009年-China Moves to Internationalize Currency

China says it will sell $880 million worth of yuan-denominated bonds in Hong Kong, in what analysts¹ say is a first step toward widening the use of the currency outside the country.
　
A tourist displays Chinese yuan

Starting September 28, investors² in Hong Kong will be able to buy bonds issued by the Chinese government. It marks the first time that the Chinese government is borrowing money offshore³ and paying it back in its own currency.

The Chinese finance ministry⁴ says the bond is meant to encourage acceptance of the yuan in international transactions and to encourage Chinese companies to tap the territory's debt market.

Kevin Lai, an economist⁵ at the Daiwa Institute of Research in Hong Kong, says it is a step toward gradually widening the use of the yuan, or renminbi, outside China. Currently, the currency cannot be traded freely outside the country, and its exchange rate is restricted to a narrow trading band.

"The next step will be to increase renminbi liquidity⁶ regionally, and in the end a step toward internationalizing the renminbi…. The renminbi has to be fully⁷ convertible⁸ at some stage," Lai explained. "Building a bond center, or increase bond issuances for renminbi is just one of those steps."

China's step to internationalize the yuan comes after recent comments from Chinese officials calling for a global alternative to the weakened U.S. dollar as a reserve currency. As a way to diversify⁹ its debt holdings, Beijing said earlier this month that it will buy $50 billion worth of bonds issued by the International Monetary¹⁰ Fund denominated in special drawing rights - a unit that is based on a basket of currencies.

China is the United States' biggest creditor¹¹ and holds hundreds of billions of dollars of U.S. bonds. The dollar's weakness because of the global financial crisis has angered Beijing, because it undermines the value of China's holdings.

But the yuan's exchange rate has long been a sore point between Beijing and Washington, as well as China's other trading partners. They accuse China of maintaining an unfair trading advantage by setting its currency's value too low, making Chinese exports artificially cheap.

Once pegged¹² to the U.S. dollar, the yuan has been allowed to slightly appreciate since 2005. But the U.S. says the yuan's value should be determined¹³ by market forces.

Beijing had indicated in the past that Hong Kong will be a center for offshore yuan trading. Five state-owned Chinese banks, including Bank of China and China Construction Bank, have issued yuan bonds in Hong Kong since 2007, when the government began allowing such deals. HSBC, Hong Kong's biggest bank, this year became the first foreign bank to issue yuan-denominated bonds.

 

1 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

4 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

5 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

6 liquidity   

n.流动性，偿债能力，流动资产

参考例句：

• The bank has progressively increased its liquidity.银行逐渐地增加其流动资产。
• The demand for and the supply of credit is closely linked to changes in liquidity.信用的供求和流动资金的变化有密切关系。

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 convertible   

adj.可改变的，可交换，同意义的；n.有活动摺篷的汽车

参考例句：

• The convertible sofa means that the apartment can sleep four.有了这张折叠沙发，公寓里可以睡下4个人。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了。

9 diversify   

v.（使）不同，（使）变得多样化

参考例句：

• Our company is trying to diversify.我们公司正力图往多样化方面发展。
• Hills and woods diversify the landscape.山陵和树木点缀景色。

10 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

11 creditor   

n.债仅人，债主，贷方

参考例句：

• The boss assigned his car to his creditor.那工头把自己的小汽车让与了债权人。
• I had to run away from my creditor whom I made a usurious loan.我借了高利贷不得不四处躲债。

12 pegged   

v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的过去式和过去分词 )；使固定在某水平

参考例句：

• They pegged their tent down. 他们钉好了账篷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She pegged down the stairs. 她急忙下楼。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

13 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。