中国与欧元区13国的首轮高层经济会谈昨日开幕，与会各国决策者同意展开合作，以预防汇率的大幅波动。

Chinese and European policymakers yesterday agreed to co-operate in preventing big exchange rate fluctuations¹, as the first high-level economic talks between ?Beijing and the 13-nation eurozone began.

中国央行表示，双方表示愿意“采取综合性措施，加大经济结构调整力度，防止汇率大幅波动，为全球失衡有序调整做出应有贡献”。

China’s central bank said the two had expressed a willingness to “take comprehensive measures to enhance structural² economic adjustments, avoid big swings in currency movements and make respective contributions to an orderly adjustment of global imbalances”.

尽管这份简要声明并未表明行动的实质，但对欧洲人而言，这已是一种进展，因为它标志着中国承认欧元不断升值以及中国贸易顺差不断扩大给欧洲造成了难题。

While the brief statement left the nature of any action vague, it constituted progress for the Europeans in that it marked Chinese recognition of their difficulties with an ever-rising euro and an ever-expanding Chinese trade surplus.

这份声明发表之前，中国央行行长周小川与欧元区财长会议轮值主席让-克洛德?容克(Jean-Claude Juncker)、欧盟货币事务专员华金?阿尔穆尼亚(Joaquín Almunia)及欧洲央行(ECB)行长让-克劳德?特里谢(Jean-Claude Trichet)举行了会晤。

The statement was issued after Zhou Xiaochuan, China’s central bank governor, held talks with Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of the eurozone finance ministers’ group, Joaquín Almunia, European monetary³ affairs commissioner⁴, and Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank.

欧洲代表希望说服中方代表，为遏制中国国内通胀压力，缓和欧洲贸易保护主义情绪，将中国快速的经济增长由出口型向内需型调整，是符合中方利益的。

The Europeans were hoping to persuade their counterparts in Beijing that it would be in China’s interests to rebalance its rapid economic growth from exports to domestic demand, in order to curb⁵ inflationary pressures at home and undercut protectionist sentiment in Europe.

今年前8个月，中国对欧盟的贸易顺差增加了25%，达到700亿欧元（合1030亿美元）。欧盟的一些决策者预计，这一顺差还会继续扩大，达到上述规模的两倍多，促使政界人物更加大声地呼吁限制进口。

China’s trade surplus with the EU rose 25 per cent in the first eight months of this year to €70bn ($103bn, ￡49bn), and some EU policymakers expect the surplus to balloon to more than double that size, generating ever louder calls from politicians for restrictions⁶ on imports.

欧盟目前感到左支右绌，因为欧元兑美元汇率几乎每周都创下新高，兑人民币汇率也在不断上升，使得美国对华出口价格低于欧洲。

The EU finds itself squeezed from two sides because the euro is hitting record highs almost every week against the dollar, while also rising against the renminbi, making US exports to China cheaper than European exports.

然而，美国和中国是否会将美元及人民币兑欧元走软视为中方声明中提到的“汇率大幅波动”的实例，目前尚不清楚。

However, it is far from clear that the US and China would regard the weakening of the dollar and renminbi against the euro as examples of the “large-scale exchange rate fluctuations” mentioned in the Chinese statement.

在北京主办中欧峰会的中国政府公开表示，理解欧元区的不安；但在私下会谈中则明确表示，会按自己选择的时机和步骤调整其汇率政策。

China, which is hosting an EU-Chinese summit in Beijing today, has expressed public understanding for the eurozone’s discomfort, while making it clear in private talks that it will adjust its exchange rate policies at a time and pace of its choosing