該給離岸人民幣起個什麼名
Would the renminbi be faring better if it were universally known as the redback? One year on from the devaluation that shocked markets, offshore deposits in the Chinese currency have fallen by a quarter, with its share of payments down more than a third.
如果人民幣在全世界被叫做“紅背”(redback)，其表現會不會更好？人民幣那次震驚市場的貶值如今已經過去一年，離岸人民幣存款已經減少了四分之一，人民幣在支付活動中的份額減少了逾三分之一。
The chances are that these falls are cyclical and not directly linked to the currency’s name. But Eurodollar, as the offshore dollar market is known, rolls off the tongue, unlike offshore renminbi , and traders like catchy names.
這些下降可能是週期性的，和人民幣叫什麼名字並不直接掛鉤。但和離岸人民幣不同，離岸美元有一個朗朗上口的名字——“歐洲美元”(Eurodollar)，而交易員們喜歡朗朗上口的名字。
For those who think China’s rise as a world economic power will continue, internationalising the renminbi is a long-term economic play as well as Beijing policy. Like the Eurodollar market, which developed outside the US in the postwar period, its use will ultimately be determined by demand outside its home country. Along the way, however, the renminbi will be buffeted by events.
對於那些認爲中國崛起爲世界經濟強國的進程還將持續的人而言，人民幣國際化既是北京方面的一項長期政策，也是一場長期的經濟競賽。就像戰後在美國以外發展起來的歐洲美元市場一樣，人民幣在國際上的使用最終將由本國以外的需求決定。然而，人民幣在國際化的過程中將受到種種事件的衝擊。
Looking at payments and deposit data, buffeting is what has happened. Surprised by the volatility and weakness in the past year, mainland companies have been paying down dollar debt and have drawn on offshore renminbi to do so. Retail savers who thought the currency a one-way appreciation bet have had to think again. In another example of products with a catchy name, dim sum bond issuance — offshore renminbi debt — has fallen too as the costs of borrowing offshore have risen.
縱觀人民幣支付和存款數據，就能發現衝擊的跡象。中國內地企業對過去一年中的波動和疲弱感到意外，它們一直在償還美元債務，並且一直在動用離岸人民幣來償還美元債務。此前押注人民幣將單向升值的零售儲戶不得不反思。由於離岸借貸成本上升，另一個名字朗朗上口的產品——點心債券（dim sum bond，離岸人民幣債券）的發行也減少了。
The renminbi’s use in payments has slid from a 2.79 per cent share in August 2015 to 1.72 per cent in June, according to Swift, the payments service. Over that period it has gone from ranking fourth, ahead of the yen, to sixth, behind the Canadian dollar. At the same time the number of banks able to deal in it has risen by a 10th, suggesting that the financial system is still only partway through the process of gearing up to handle the currency.
根據支付服務“環球銀行金融電信協會”(SWIFT)的數據，人民幣在支付活動中的使用份額已從2015年8月的2.79%下滑至今年6月的1.72%。在這期間，人民幣在全球使用最多的支付幣種中的排名，從第四名（排在日元之前）下滑至第六名（排在加拿大元之後）。這還是在能夠以人民幣交易的銀行的數量增加了十分之一的情況下發生的，這表明金融體系還沒有完全做好經手人民幣的準備。
Now to find a name. Eurorenminbi is out. The market codes — CNH for offshore and CNY for mainland — are not a headline writer’s dream. Dim sum is taken, as is panda for onshore bonds. Redback is gaining currency but there is room for something better. Yuan-related puns have been banned in the Financial Times as tired and mispronounced. One colleague suggests bamboo bucks, another dragonbacks. Ideas on a postcard, please.
該爲離岸人民幣想個朗朗上口的名字了。“歐洲人民幣”肯定不行。人民幣的市場代碼——CNH代表離岸人民幣，CNY代表在岸人民幣——也不妥，想要擬出醒目頭條的作者肯定不喜歡這名字。“點心”這個名字已經被佔用了，同樣，“熊貓”也被境外機構在華髮行的人民幣債券佔用了。越來越多的人開始使用“紅背”這個名字，但應該還有更好的名字。英國《金融時報》內部已禁止使用和“Yuan”相關的雙關語，因爲它們老套、容易唸錯。一名同事建議用“竹元”(bamboo buck)，還有一名同事建議用“龍背”(dragonback)。請讀者們踊躍貢獻創意。
