【英语中国】盖特纳：中国开始调整经济平衡

China has made progress in rebalancing its economy towards domestic consumption and away from exports even though its currency remains pegged to the dollar, Tim Geithner, US Treasury secretary, has said.

Adopting a conciliatory tone yesterday ahead of two days of meetings in Beijing starting today, Mr Geithner said China had relaxed some of the restrictions facing multinationals that have angered parts of the US business community in China.

Mr Geithner is in Beijing for the annual US-China summit – an event that used to involve US lectures about open markets but since the financial crisis in 2008 has reflected a more balanced economic relationship.

Beijing is likely to use the forum to air its concerns about the rising US budget deficit.

Together with Hillary Clinton, secretary of state, Mr Geithner is leading a group of more than a dozen senior officials for the strategic and economic dialogue, which was designed to discuss long-term problems but which may be buffetted by the more immediate issues of North Korea and Iran.

The US has long been pressing China to rebalance its economy by adopting a stronger currency, especially since the renminbi was re-pegged to the US dollar in mid-2008. But Mr Geithner admitted that policies introduced by the Chinese government were reducing its dependence on exports.

“It looks as if there has been a durable shift towards domestic consumption in China,” he told a small group of reporters yesterday. “Domestic demand is growing more rapidly than [gross domestic product], and there's been a big drop in the external surplus.”

China's current account surplus dropped from 11 per cent of GDP in 2007 to 5.8 per cent last year as its aggressive stimulus plan drew in record imports of commodities.

The US administration is likely to soft-pedal over the currency issue in public this week, for fear of provoking a backlash from its hosts in Beijing. But officials acknowledge that if China has not shifted policy by the G20 summit in late June, political pressure in the US for trade measures directed at China will rise.

The US will also lobby China over a series of new rules that some foreign businesses in China say are making it harder for them to operate.

Mr Geithner acknowledged, however, that China had changed so-called “indigenous innovation” rules introduced last year, which multinationals claimed would exclude them from public procurement contracts.

“I do think there has been a softening of China's position on indigenous innovation,” he said. “I don't think they've come far enough, and it's not something we're going to solve in this meeting. But they are sensitive to it.”

美国财长蒂姆?盖特纳(Tim Geithner)表示，中国在调整经济平衡、从依赖出口转向注重国内消费方面，已经取得了进展——尽管人民币目前仍盯住美元。

在今天在北京开始的两天会议之前，盖特纳昨日采取和缓的语气，表示中国已放宽了对跨国公司施加的某些限制措施。这些限制激怒了一部分美国在华企业。

盖特纳到北京是为了出席美中年度峰会，以往，美国往往借这个场合进行开放市场方面的说教，但在2008年发生金融危机后，该峰会反映出一种更为平衡的经济关系。

北京方面很可能利用这一论坛，表示中国担忧美国越来越大的预算赤字。

盖特纳与国务卿希拉里?克林顿(Hillary Clinton)一起，带领10多名高级官员参加此次战略与经济对话，该对话旨在讨论长远问题，但这次可能免不了磋商朝鲜和伊朗等更为紧迫的问题。

美国一直在对中国施压——尤其是自2008年年中人民币再度盯住美元以来——要求中国让人民币升值，藉此调整经济平衡。但盖特纳承认，中国政府出台的各项政策，正在减轻中国经济对出口的依赖。

“看来，中国已经发生了转向国内消费的持久转变，”他昨日对一小群记者表示。“国内需求的增速超过[国内生产总值]，对外盈余出现了大幅下降。”

中国的经常账户盈余已从2007年占国内生产总值(GDP)的11%，降至去年的5.8%，原因是其积极的刺激计划导致了创纪录的大宗商品进口。

奥巴马政府本周很可能在公开场合低调处理汇率问题，因为其担心在北京引发东道主的反弹。但官员们承认，如果中国到6月下旬20国集团(G20)峰会时仍未调整政策，美国国内要求采取针对中国的贸易措施的政治压力将会上升。

美方还将就一系列新规则对中方进行游说，一部分在华外企表示，这些规则加大了它们的经营难度。

不过，盖特纳承认，中国已经改变了去年出台的所谓“本土创新”规则。一些跨国公司称，这些规则把它们排除在公共采购合同之外。

“我的确认为，中国在本土创新上的立场有所软化，”他表示。“我不认为他们的态度已经到位，而且这不是我们要在本次会议上解决的问题。但他们在这个问题上感觉是灵敏的。”

译者/和风