The gap between the renminbi’s two exchange rates has widened to a record, fuelling speculation that Beijing intends to allow its currency to depreciate at a faster rate than previously seen.

人民币在岸与离岸汇率之差升至创纪录水平，这使得越来越多的人猜测，北京方面打算让人民币以前所未见的速度贬值。

The spread between the offshore market and the more tightly controlled onshore market is an embarrassment for the People’s Bank of China, which pledged in August to narrow the gap as part of its efforts to make its currency “freely usable”.

对中国央行来说，人民币离岸汇率与受到更为严格管控的在岸汇率之差是个尴尬的存在。中国央行去年8月承诺要缩小这一差值，以努力促成人民币的“可自由使用”。

Investors around the world are worried that an unexpectedly fast depreciation will destabilise China’s economy. Some also fear it could trigger a wave of competitive devaluations across the region.

世界各地的投资者担心，人民币出人意料的快速贬值会破坏中国经济的稳定。有些人还担心，这会在该地区引发一波竞争性贬值。

“During our investor meetings in December, the most significant risk that investors were worried about was a substantial devaluation of the renminbi,” wrote Timothy Moe, Goldman Sach’s chief Asia-Pacific equity strategist in a research note on Wednesday.

高盛(Goldman Sach)亚太区首席股票策略师慕天辉(Timothy Moe)周三在一份研究报告中写道：“在去年12月我们举行的投资者会议上，投资者担心的最重大风险就是人民币大幅贬值。”

The offshore renminbi fell to Rmb6.72 against the dollar as London traders took over from Beijing. It has now dropped more than 2 per cent this week.

进入到伦敦交易时段后，离岸人民币兑美元汇率下跌至1美元兑6.72元人民币，本周的跌幅已逾2%。

Meanwhile the onshore rate, at Rmb6.55.

截至发稿时，在岸人民币汇率为1美元兑6.56元人民币。

said Zhou Hao, strategist at Commerzbank. “In general, we think that the Chinese authorities will tolerate more weakness in the renminbi for the time being.”

德国商业银行(Commerzbank)策略师周浩表示：“总的来说，我们认为中国当局暂时会容许人民币进一步走弱。”