世界各国财长将于下月齐聚华盛顿，参加国际货币基金组织(IMF)和世界银行(World Bank)的春季会议。不知道一些财长是否会受到欢迎，这是自这两个组织创建以来首次出现这种情况。
This month, Donald Trump, US president, submitted a budget that cut World Bank contributions by $650m and reduced US participation in the IMF.
本月，美国总统唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)递交了一份预算，将美国对世界银行的出资削减6.5亿美元，还减少了美国在IMF的参与度。
As the US scales back its participation on the global stage, China has been scaling up. Ever since the financial crisis, Chinese institutions have been providing lifelines to foreign countries and billions of dollars in development finance.
在美国减少其在全球舞台上的参与力度之际，中国正在增加自己的戏份。自全球金融危机以来，中国机构一直在向外国提供救助，并提供了数十亿美元的发展资金。
China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China, is playing a growing role in providing a backstop for international liquidity. In the wake of the financial crisis, Zhou Xiaochuan, the PBoC governor, raised eyebrows when he said “the desirable goal of reforming the international monetary system . . . is to create an international reserve currency that is disconnected from individual nations and is able to remain stable in the long run, thus removing the inherent deficiencies caused by using credit-based national currencies”.
在为国际流动性提供支持方面，中国央行发挥着越来越重要的作用。在全球金融危机之后，中国央行行长周小川发表了一番让外界惊诧的言论，他当时表示：“创造一种与主权国家脱钩、并能保持币值长期稳定的国际储备货币，从而避免主权信用货币作为储备货币的内在缺陷，是国际货币体系改革的理想目标。”。
In addition to strong words, the PBoC governor has taken some steps. According to a forthcoming paper by Daniel McDowell, a professor at Syracuse University, the PBoC has made available about $550bn in local currency swaps around the world.
除了强硬的措辞之外，周小川还采取了一些措施。雪城大学(Syracuse University)教授丹尼尔•麦克道尔(Daniel McDowell)即将发表的一篇论文称，中国央行在世界范围内签订了总额约5500亿美元的人民币互换协议。
As Eswar Prasad, a Cornell University economist, has noted in a new book, these swaps do not mean the renminbi is taking over. The US dollar is still the world’s major currency and its Federal Reserve made unlimited amounts of dollars available in the wake of the crisis. That said, China’s swaps are huge, helping to facilitate trade and may pave the way to bigger things to come.
正如康奈尔大学(Cornell University)经济学家埃斯瓦尔•普拉萨德(Eswar Prasad)在他的新书中所指出的，这些货币互换协议并不意味着人民币正取代美元。美元仍是全球最主要的货币，而且美联储(Fed)在金融危机之后提供了无限量的美元。尽管如此，中国的货币互换规模巨大，有利于促进贸易并可能会为未来更重要的行动铺平道路。
In addition, China is also leading by example. In a step more in tune with what the framers of the Bretton Woods agreements intended, the PBoC has been re-regulating capital flows to mitigate financial instability and prevent a huge devaluation in its currency. At the same time, the Trump administration is pledging to roll back the financial regulations put in place after the crisis.
另外，中国也在做出表率。中国央行一直在重新加强对资本流动的监管，以减轻金融不稳定和防止人民币大幅贬值，这类举措更符合布雷顿森林(Bretton Woods)协议制定者的初衷。与此同时，特朗普政府却承诺废除金融危机之后出台的金融监管规定。
China has emerged as a leader in development finance as well. The global wing of China’s national development bank, the China Development Bank, has a loan book of close to $400bn. Its partner, the Export-Import Bank of China, holds approximately $300bn. The two have a larger basket of assets than the World Bank and all the regional multilateral development banks combined.
中国还成为了发展融资方面的领导者。中国国家开发银行(CDB)国际业务部门的贷款总额接近4000亿美元。其伙伴中国进出口银行(Export-Import Bank of China)发放的贷款也有3000亿美元左右。这两家银行的资产规模超过世界银行以及所有区域多边发展银行的总和。
In addition to these two banks, China has created about $116bn in bilateral and regional funds, such as the Silk Road Fund, that will invest in China’s “Marshall Plan”, the Belt and Road initiative. Other vehicles include the China-Latin America and the China-Africa Development funds, which are providing support for infrastructure and industrial transformation.
除了这两家银行，中国还设立了约1160亿美元的多边和区域基金，例如丝路基金(Silk Road Fund)，目标是投资于中国的“马歇尔计划”(Marshall Plan)——“一带一路”计划。其他工具包括中拉合作基金和中非发展基金，为基础设施和工业改革提供支持。
Of course, China has also taken the lead in creating two new development banks — the Asian Infrastructure Investment (AIIB) and the New Development banks — that begin with $50bn in start-up capital but aspire to have close to $350bn by 2020.
当然，中国还牵头设立了两家拥有庞大资本金的新发展银行：亚洲基础设施投资银行(Asian Infrastructure Investment，简称：亚投行)和新开发银行(New Development Bank)。
What is more, China’s institutions appear to be more flexible. As Justin Yifu Lin, former chief economist at the World Bank, notes in a new book he co-wrote (Going Beyond Aid: Development Cooperation for Structural Transformation), China’s development institutions blend concessional and non-concessional financial instruments with grants and commercial sector involvement in creative ways that are unimaginable for Washington-backed institutions.
另外，中国机构似乎更灵活。正如世行前首席经济学家林毅夫(Justin Yifu Lin)在他与人合写的新书(《超越发展援助》(Going Beyond Aid: Development Cooperation for Structural Transformation))中所指出的那样，中国的开发机构把优惠及非优惠金融工具与资助和商业参与结合在一起，其采用的创造性手段是美国支持的机构无法想象的。
Jin Liqun, head of the AIIB, recently told the Financial Times: “Now that China has developed, it is our turn to contribute.”
亚投行行长金立群最近告诉英国《金融时报》：“中国已经有所发展，现在是我们贡献的时候了。”
On many levels, China’s contributions could not come at a better time. The financial crisis proved that the IMF and the Fed need more firepower to prevent and mitigate a crisis. What is more, the world economy needs to invest $6tn a year over the next 15 years to plug gaps in developing country infrastructure and to rebuild the neglected infrastructure of industrialised countries. And although great progress has been made, there are still more than 700m people living in extreme poverty on the planet.
从很多层面来说，中国的贡献来的正是时候。全球金融危机证明，IMF和美联储需要更多资金防范和缓和危机。另外，未来15年，全球经济需要每年投资6万亿美元来弥补发展中国家在基础设施方面的差距并重建工业化国家受忽视的基础设施。尽管世界取得了巨大进步，但还有7亿多人生活在极度贫困中。
The Trump administration’s proposed cuts to global economic institutions appear to be yet another sign of a US retreat into isolationism. Rather than withdrawing, Washington should be leading the way to embrace China’s efforts and figure out ways to co-ordinate with, and complement, China’s new global economic prowess.
特朗普政府拟削减美国对全球经济机构的出资，这是表明美国正退回到孤立主义的另一个迹象。其实，美国不但不应后退，还应带头对中国的努力表示欢迎，想办法配合——和补充——中国在全球经济领域新展现出来的才能。
Kevin P Gallagher is a professor of global development policy at Boston University’s Pardee School for Global Studies, where he co-directs the Global Economic Governance Initiative. His latest book is “The China Triangle”.
本文作者是波士顿大学(Boston University)帕迪全球研究学院(Pardee School of Global Studies)全球发展政策教授，是该院“全球经济治理计划”(Global Economic Governance Initiative)的负责人之一。他的最新著作是《中国三角》(The China Triangle)。
