China is considering an overhaul of sovereign debt issuance as the world’s third-largest bond market seeks closer integration with the global financial system.

在中国寻求与全球金融体系更密切地整合之际，这个全球第三大债市正在考虑全面改革其主权债发行体制。

People close to the discussions say the country has been urged to rewrite its sovereign bond contracts in order to show support for a new Washington-backed financial framework designed to improve the relationship between governments and creditors.

与相关磋商关系密切的人士表示，中国已在催促下重新拟定其主权债合同，以反映出对一种新融资框架的支持。这种美国政府支持的新融资框架旨在改善政府与债权人间的关系。

International sovereign debt markets have undergone a radical transformation in the past two years as policymakers and financial institutions seek to prevent a repeat of the messy and protracted debt crisis that trapped Argentina for over a decade.

过去，阿根廷曾深陷一场混乱而旷日持久的债务危机，危机的持续时间在十年以上。为此，在各国政策制定者和金融机构力图防止再次发生此类危机之际，国际主权债市场已在过去两年上演一场根本转型。

In 2014, following Argentina’s second default in 13 years, a group representing more than 400 of the world’s largest banks, investors and debt issuers convened to create a new set of clauses for inclusion in government bond contracts. They focus on strengthening collective action clauses and clarifying the controversial pari passu clause used by hedge funds to argue for full repayment of Argentina’s defaulted debt.

2014年，在阿根廷出现13年内第二次违约之后，一个代表逾400家全球最大银行、投资者和债券发行商的组织举行了会晤，拟定了一系列可纳入政府债券合同的新条款。该组织成员关注的焦点有两方面，一方面是加强集体行动条款(collective action clause)，一方面是澄清有争议的同等权益条款(pari passu clause)。对冲基金曾把后者作为全额偿付阿根廷违约债券的辩护理由。

The changes, which have received the backing of the International Monetary Fund and authorities in Washington, have been adopted by countries including Mexico and Poland. Last year a G20 communiqué called for the inclusion of strengthened pari passu and collective action clauses in all future international sovereign bonds.

这些变更得到了国际货币基金组织(IMF)和美国政府当局的支持。它已被包括墨西哥和波兰等国在内的多个国家采纳。去年，二十国集团(G20)一份公报曾呼吁将同等权益条款和集体行动条款的强化版纳入所有未来的国际主权债中。

China has also stated its public support for the changes.

中国也曾口头表达对这些变更的公开支持。

At a G20 meeting for finance ministers and central bank governors in Paris last month, Zhou Xiaochuan, People’s Bank of China governor, said: “We must continue to promote orderly restructuring of sovereign debt, including inserting strengthened contract provisions into newly issued and existing sovereign bonds, as well as incentivising strengthened co-ordination between government creditors and debtors.”

上个月在巴黎召开的一次二十国集团财政部长和央行行长会议上，中国央行(PBoC)行长周小川曾表示：“（我们必须）继续推动主权债的有序重组，包括将加强的合同条款引入新发行和存量主权债中，以及鼓励官方债权人和债务人加强协调。”

However, the country has so far opted not to include the new contracts in sovereign bonds.

不过到目前为止，中国选择不在主权债中纳入新的合同。

Foreign ownership of Chinese government debt remains a fraction of the total at close to 2 per cent, but according to Deutsche Bank it could reach 10 per cent by 2020 as Beijing loosens restrictions and attempts to widen the available pool of capital.

目前，外国对中国政府债券的持有比例依然只有近2%。不过根据德意志银行(Deutsche Bank)的说法，由于中国政府放宽限制并试图扩大可用资金池，到2020年以前这一比例或达到10%。

“Foreign ownership of bonds in China is limited,” said Neil Weller at JPMorgan Asset Management. “So it makes sense that China would be interested in this path of internationalisation.”

摩根大通资产管理公司(JPMorgan Asset Management)的尼尔•韦勒(Neil Weller)表示：“外国投资者对中国债券的持有十分有限。因此，中国对这种国际化路线感兴趣是有道理的。”

Alexi Chan, head of HSBC’s debt capital markets in Asia, said China‘s overall goal was to promote the renminbi as an international currency.

汇丰银行(HSBC)亚洲债券资本市场主管Alexi Chan表示，中国的总体目标是将人民币推升为国际货币。

China had only $65bn in foreign-currency government bonds outstanding at the end of 2015, according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, compared with more than $1.5tn worth of renminbi-denominated bonds, according to the main domestic bond clearinghouses.

根据中国国家外汇管理局(State Administration of Foreign Exchange)的数据，2015年底中国外汇政府公债余额只有650亿美元。相比之下，根据主要的国内债券结算机构的数据，以人民币结算的债券规模逾1.5万亿美元。