(单词翻译:单击)
BEIJING — A new Chinese-led international development bank announced its first four loans on Saturday, pledging to lend $509 million for projects to spread electric power in rural Bangladesh, upgrade living conditions in slums in Indonesia, and improve roads in Pakistan and Tajikistan.
北京——周六,中国牵头的一个国际开发银行宣布了它的首批四个贷款项目,承诺将提供5.09亿美元贷款,用于在孟加拉国乡村地区普及电力供应,提高印度尼西亚贫民窟的生活条件,以及改善巴基斯坦和塔克吉斯坦的道路状况。
At the first of the annual general meetings of the institution, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the bank’s president, Jin Liqun, said the projects were financially sound and environmentally friendly and had been accepted by the people in the project areas.
在亚洲基础设施投资银行(简称亚投行)首届理事会年会上,行长金立群表示,这些项目资金充足,环境友好,已经被项目所在地的民众接受。
The projects of the 57-member bank, founded last year as an effort by China to both challenge lending institutions and cooperate with them, are relatively modest.
相对而言,亚投行的这些项目不算太大。这家银行有57个成员,去年由中国努力促成,既是为了挑战现有的借贷机构,也是为了与它们展开合作。
The road in Tajikistan is just three miles long, but it will help clear traffic congestion on an important trading route near the capital, Dushanbe. A $100 million loan to Pakistan is for 40 miles of highway in Punjab Province that would complete the last section of a national artery, the M-4, the bank said.
在塔吉克斯坦修建的这条公路只有三英里长,但它将有助于改善首都杜尚别附近一条重要贸易线路的交通拥堵情况。亚投行表示,给巴基斯坦提供的1亿美元贷款将被用于在旁遮普省修建40英里的公路,工程属于该国一条国家主干线M-4建设的最后一部分。
Three of the projects are being financed with other institutions — the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development — an approach that allowed the new bank to begin the projects quickly. The bank’s $165 million loan to expand electricity in rural areas of Bangladesh is its only stand-alone project.
这些项目中有三项同时获得了其他机构——亚洲开发银行(Asian Development Bank)、世界银行(World Bank)和欧洲复兴开发银行(European Bank for Reconstruction and Development)——的资金。这一策略使这家新银行得以很快启动项目。用于扩展孟加拉国农村地区电力覆盖的1.65亿美元贷款,是亚投行唯一一个独立出资的项目。
By financing projects with long-established institutions, the Beijing-based bank was able to move quickly because work on meeting environmental standards and procurement policies had been completed, staff members at the bank said.
亚投行工作人员表示,通过与成熟机构一起为这些项目提供贷款,这家总部位于北京的银行得以快速行动起来,因为满足环境标准和采购政策需求的工作已经完成。
Although the new bank was China’s idea, it is intended to operate as an international bank dedicated to improving the basic structures and facilities needed to stimulate development across Asia, Mr. Jin said at a news conference on Saturday. Unlike the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank places less emphasis on the reduction of poverty, he said.
周六的时候,金立群在新闻发布会上表示,尽管成立亚投行的想法由中国提出,但它的目的是运营一家国际银行,致力于改善促进亚洲各地经济发展所需的基础建筑与设施。他还称,与世界银行和亚洲开发银行不同的是,亚投行的侧重点相对不那么放在减少贫困上。
The bank “was born with the birthmark of China, but its upbringing is international,” Mr. Jin said. Referring to the three other institutions that will finance the projects, he said, “We can work wonderfully together.”
亚投行的“诞生带有中国标记,但它的成长方式是国际性的,”金立群说。在谈到为这些项目提供资金的其他三家机构时,他表示,“我们可以很好地展开合作。”
The new bank is being watched closely. The United States refused to join when it was offered membership in 2014, saying it was uncertain how the bank would measure up on matters of environmental protection, human rights and anticorruption measures long promoted by Western governments and institutions. Japan has also not sought membership in the bank.
这家新银行受到密切的关注。2014年接到邀请时,美国拒绝加入亚投行,声称不确定它会如何在西方政府和机构长期推动的环境保护、人权和反腐措施等问题上做到合规。日本也不曾寻求加入该行。
But President Obama’s administration was mostly concerned that the bank would challenge the current development architecture, the Bretton Woods system established under the leadership of the United States after World War II.
不过,奥巴马政府主要还是担忧亚投行会挑战目前的开发架构,也就是二战后在美国领导下确立的布雷顿森林体系。
In the past year, Mr. Jin has worked to reassure Washington, largely by agreeing to choose projects that have already been approved by the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the European bank. He has also emphasized that the new bank will be more streamlined and strive to be “lean, green and clean.”
过去一年,金立群在努力消除华盛顿的担忧,主要方式是同意选择已被世界银行、亚洲开发银行和欧洲复兴开发银行批准的项目。他还强调亚投行的结构将会较为精炼,努力做到“精干、廉洁和绿色”。
Washington has shown no signs of wanting to join the new bank, but senior Obama administration officials have praised the decision to work with the established institutions and their regimen of standards.
华盛顿一直没有显示出想要加入的迹象,不过奥巴马政府的高级官员赞扬了亚投行与成熟机构合作并遵循其标准规则的做法。
Britain was the most eager of the Western democracies to join the bank, and it broke ranks with the United States and became a member in the fall of 2014. Other members of the European Union, including France and Germany, rushed in after Britain.
在西方民主社会中,英国是最积极加入亚投行的国家。它于2014年秋季脱离美国阵营,成为亚投行的成员国。包括法国和德国在内,欧盟的其他一些成员也很快加入。
The withdrawal of Britain from the European Union is not expected to affect its relationship with the bank, Mr. Jin said. “I believe the United Kingdom will continue to play an important role in the development of the bank,” he said at the news conference.
金立群预计,英国退出欧盟不会对它与亚投行的关系产生影响。“我相信英国将继续在亚投行的发展中扮演重要的角色,”他在新闻发布会上表示。
Asked if he believed that Britain’s decision showed that the old guard was crumbling quicker than he expected, Mr. Jin diplomatically replied that he had detected no such signs.
在被问到他是否觉得英国的决定显示出旧势力崩溃的速度比他预料得要快,金立群以外交口吻予以答复——他没有发现这种迹象。
One of five vice presidents of the bank, the British politician Danny Alexander, sat next to Mr. Jin at the news conference. Member countries eagerly sought to fill the positions of vice president, and Mr. Alexander’s appointment was interpreted as a reward to Britain for its critical support of the bank in the face of American opposition.
在新闻发布会上,身为亚投行五位副行长之一的英国政界人士丹尼·亚历山大(Danny Alexander)就坐在金立群旁边。各成员国急切地想获得副行长的职位,而亚历山大获得任命被解读为对英国的回报,感谢它在面临美国的反对之时予以关键的支持。
Two dozen countries have expressed interest in joining the bank, and they sent observers to the two-day meeting, Mr. Jin said. The new members would come from Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa, and could join as early as next year.
金立群提到,有二十多个国家表达了加入亚投行的意向,他们派了观察员来出席这次为期两天的会议。这些新成员来自东欧、拉丁美洲和非洲,最早可能于明年加入。
So far, the bank has 39 permanent professional staff members and about 20 other people working on contracts, a relatively small pool of people for an international bank planning to supervise major contracts. The staff is expected to expand to about 100 by the end of the year, a bank official said.
截至目前,亚投行共有39名常设正式员工,另有大约20名合同工。对于一个计划监管大型合约项目的国际银行而言,人员显得比较少。一名银行官员表示,到今年底,亚投行员工人数预计将达到100人左右。