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发帖数: 3205 | 1 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/12/25/business/AP-AS-China
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: December 25, 2011 at 11:08 PM ET
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese and Japanese leaders have unveiled initiatives to
tighten financial links between East Asia's economic giants and sometime
rivals — measures that could expand use of China's tightly controlled
currency abroad.
During a visit to Beijing by Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, the two
governments said in a surprise announcement Sunday they will encourage use
of their own currencies in bilateral trade, which now is conducted mostly in
U.S. dollars.
They also agreed to support the sale of bonds denominated in China's yuan by
Japanese companies in Tokyo and foreign markets and by the state-owned
Japan Bank of International Cooperation in mainland China's markets, which
are closed to most foreign investors.
The pledges were a striking step for China and Japan, which are the world's
second- and third-largest economies and are bound by billions of dollars in
trade but whose political relations often are strained over conflicting
territorial claims and other disputes.
"To support the growing economic and financial ties between China and Japan,
the leaders of China and Japan have agreed to enhance mutual cooperation in
financial markets of both countries and encourage financial transactions
between the two countries," the governments said in identically worded
statements.
They said Japan's government also planned to purchase Chinese government
bonds, and an application process for official approval of that was under
way.
The governments gave no timetable for practical steps to put the pledges
into action or the size of possible bond offerings. Commercial banks still
have to create yuan-denominated letters of credit and other tools before
traders in Japan can use the currency.
The moves might reduce the dominance of the U.S. dollar in East Asia, the
world's fastest-growing region. The Kyodo News agency cited a Japanese
official who told reporters some 60 percent of trade between Japan and China
is now settled in dollars, which requires companies to convert money
between yen, dollars and yuan, adding to their costs.
Beijing controls the yuan's exchange rate and the flow of money into and out
of China's booming economy. But the government has begun allowing limited
use of yuan for trade. It said this month that some companies that obtain
Chinese currency abroad will be allowed to invest it in mainland financial
markets.
Most trade in yuan is conducted through Hong Kong, where Beijing also has
created a market for yuan-denominated bonds that McDonald's Corp. and some
other foreign companies have used to raise money to invest in their mainland
operations.
The easing of controls on bond sales could help to reduce costs for Japanese
companies that need to raise money to invest in their China operations.
The communist government keeps China's bond and other financial markets
sealed off from global financial flows. That helped the country avoid the
turmoil of the 2008 global financial crisis but has slowed the development
of markets that Chinese leaders want to support economic development.
The latest pledges also might help to promote moves to allow the yuan to
trade more freely on currency markets.
The United States and other trading partners complain that Beijing's
currency controls keep the yuan undervalued, giving China's exporters an
unfair price advantage and hurting foreign competitors at a time when the
global economy is struggling. |
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