【英语财经】奥斯本再度唱好中国经济 George Osborne is bullish on outlook for Chinese economy

George Osborne on Tuesday played down fears over the state of China’s economy and confirmed his hope to link up the stock exchanges of Shanghai and London.

Speaking at the Shanghai stock exchange, the chancellor said Britain and China would “stick together” and predicted the Chinese economy would continue to fuel global growth.

Mr Osborne said he wanted to see Chinese companies listing in London to create a deeper capital market to help them grow.

“China needs a financial system that is truly global and there’s no better place to start than the global centre of finance that is the UK,” he said.

A feasibility study to link the two exchanges has been launched and Mr Osborne said Britain should not fear greater links to the Chinese economy.

Mr Osborne chose to deliver his upbeat assessment of the Chinese economy at what he described as “the epicentre” of last month’s stock market crash.

The speech marked a third day of intensive wooing by the chancellor of his hosts, as he seeks to establish Britain as China’s number one partner in the west.

Later on Tuesday Mr Osborne will travel to Urumqi in the north west of China, the scene of ethnic tensions between Han Chinese and the region’s Muslim Uighur population.

Mr Osborne is the first British minister to visit the remote city and is conscious that critics may see his visit as an endorsement of China’s military crackdown.

However, British officials say that is not Mr Osborne’s intention and that he sees the Xinjiang region as a potential location for British investment, as Beijing recreates the old Silk Road trade route to the west.

“Do we disagree on things like human rights, yes we do, but isn’t it better to engage?” Mr Osborne said in an interview with the BBC.

The chancellor also hopes that his visit to a Chinese city normally off the diplomatic trail will be reciprocated when Xi Jinping visits the UK next month; the Chinese president is expected to visit Manchester, heart of Mr Osborne’s northern powerhouse project.

乔治?奥斯本(George Osborne)周二淡化了外界对于中国经济状况的忧虑，同时证实他希望推动上海和伦敦证券交易所互联互通。

英国财政大臣在上交所发表讲话时表示，英国和中国将“粘在一起”，并预测中国经济将继续推动全球经济增长。

奥斯本表示，他希望看到中国公司在伦敦上市，创造一个更有深度的资本市场，帮助它们发展壮大。

“中国需要一个真正全球性的金融体系，而从英国这个全球金融中心开始再好不过，”他说。

关于两个交易所互联互通的可行性研究已经启动，奥斯本表示，英国不应惧怕与中国经济建立更紧密的联系。

奥斯本选择在上交所——他所称的上月股市崩盘的“震中”——发表他对中国经济的乐观评估。

这一讲话标志着英国财相向中国示好的紧张行程进入第三天，他寻求将英国确立为中国在西方的头号合作伙伴。

周二稍后，奥斯本动身前往中国西北部的乌鲁木齐，那里的汉族与当地维吾尔族穆斯林之间关系紧张。

奥斯本是首位访问这个偏远城市的英国部长级官员，他意识到，批评者可能把他的到访说成是对中国军事镇压的认可。

但英国官员们表示，这不是奥斯本的本意；随着北京方面重新打造通往西方的丝绸之路，他认为新疆地区潜在是英国投资的理想目的地。

“我们在人权等问题上存在不同意见吗？没错，是这样，但是，难道接触不是更好的方式吗？”奥斯本在接受BBC采访时表示。

英国财相还希望，他访问中国一个通常与外交活动无缘的城市，将得到习近平下月访问英国时的礼尚往来；预计中国国家主席届时将访问曼彻斯特，那是奥斯本的“北方经济引擎”(northern powerhouse)项目的中心。

译者/何黎