潘功勝:中國不會回資本管制的老路
China’s top foreign exchange regulator says the country will not follow the “old road of capital controls”, as the government seeks to reassure investors that their money will not be trapped in China following recent measures to restrict capital outflows.
中國最高外匯監管官員表示，中國不會重回“資本管制的老路”。此時，中國政府正想方設法讓投資者放心，在近來的限制資本流出的措施之後，他們的資金將不會被困在中國。A flurry of moves to keep money onshore has sparked concern that China is backtracking on promises to liberalise cross-border investment and internationalise its currency. The measures include tighter approval procedures for foreign acquisitions by Chinese companies and higher hurdles for forex purchases by individuals.
一連串旨在把資金留在境內的舉措導致人們擔憂，中國可能正在走回頭路，不再履行放開跨境投資和推進人民幣國際化的承諾。In a rare media interview, Pan Gongsheng, head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange and deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, described the recent tightening primarily as an effort to close loopholes and improve enforcement of existing rules and root out fraud, not to abandon the general trend towards greater openness.
在一次不多見的媒體採訪中，中國央行副行長、外管局局長潘功勝稱，近來的收緊措施主要是爲了封堵漏洞、完善現有規則執行和根除欺詐，而不是放棄擴大開放的大趨勢。
“We persist in one principle: the window we have opened will not be closed again. Foreign exchange management policy will not retreat backwards, let alone will we return to the old road of capital controls,” Mr Pan told China Business News. Neither Mr Pan nor his predecessor at Safe has ever granted an interview to foreign media while serving in the position.
“我們堅持一個原則：打開的窗戶不會再關上。外匯管理政策不會後退，更不會走回資本管制的老路，”潘功勝對《第一財經》表示。無論是潘功勝還是外管局的前局長，在任期間都沒有接受過外國媒體的採訪。Mr Pan said that recent measures to restrict capital outflows are primarily targeting suspicious or fraudulent transactions, as well as currency speculation. The “going out” policy of encouraging outbound investment by Chinese companies is crucial to fulfilling President Xi Jinping’s “One Belt One Road” policy, which calls for Chinese groups to fund infrastructure investment in Central Asia and the Middle East.
潘功勝表示，近期限制資本流出的措施，主要是爲了打擊可疑或欺詐交易，以及匯率投機。鼓勵中國企業對外投資的“走出去”政策，對於實現中國國家主席的“一帶一路”戰略是至關重要的。該戰略要求中國企業出資支持中亞和中東的基礎設施建設。On the other hand, he said that the abrupt surge of Chinese outbound deals raised questions, citing commerce ministry figures showing a 44 per cent rise in outbound foreign direct investment in 2016.
另一方面，他表示，2016年來對外直接投資規模增長迅速，可能會帶來不少潛在問題。他提到，2016年中國對外直接投資增長了44%。
“If outbound FDI shows an extraordinary change within a relatively short period, this needs to spark our close attention,” he said. “Some enterprises’ outbound FDI is carried out with a strong element of blindness.”
“如果對外直接投資在比較短的時間內出現了異常變化，則需要引起我們的重視，”他說，“一些企業對外直接投資帶有很強的盲目性。”Mr Pan said the government was especially suspicious about investments outside an investor’s core business and those where the investment target was much larger than its acquirer. He cited the example of Japan, where investors bought a series of US trophy assets in the 1980s. This buying spree preceded an economic crash and two decades of stagnation.
潘功勝表示，中國政府尤其對大額非主業投資和“母小子大”的投資感到懷疑。他舉了日本的例子。在1980年代，日本企業曾橫掃美國的炫耀性資產。在併購狂歡之後，日本發生了經濟崩盤，經歷了長達20年的滯漲。
