Chinese investors bought a net Y541bn ($6.2bn) of Japanese government bonds in the first four months of the year amid concerns over Europe's debt woes.

　　因对欧洲的债务困境感到担心，中国投资者今年头四个月净买入5410亿日元（合62亿美元）日本国债。

　　Analysts said the scale of the buying – more than double the full-year record of Y253.8bn in 2005 – was notable compared with the rate of increase in China's foreign exchange reserves in the first quarter.

　　中国2005年全年净买入2538亿日元日本国债，曾创下历史纪录，而今年头四个月的购买规模已相当于2005年全年的两倍多。分析师表示，相对今年一季度中国外汇储备的增长速度而言，这一购买规模令人瞩目。

　　Data from the People's Bank of China revealed that the country's FX reserves grew by $48bn in the first three months of the year. Assuming that the PBoC continued to accumulate reserves at the same pace, this implies that purchase of JGBs accounted for nearly 10 per cent of new reserves.

　　中国央行(PBoC)的数据显示，今年一季度，中国新增外汇储备480亿美元。假设中国央行继续以同样的速度累积外汇储备，那么日本国债的购买额大约占到新增外汇储备的10%。

　　But Derek Halpenny at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ said investors should be cautious about concluding that the JGB purchases were signs of an upturn in confidence in Japan by China.

　　但三菱东京UFJ银行(Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ)的德里克•赫尔潘尼(Derek Halpenny)表示，投资者应对如下结论保持警惕，即中国增持日本国债表明中国对日本经济的信心正在回升。

　　He said the data showed that 96 per cent of the invested funds were in securities maturing in less than a year, which indicated that “the China investment was more about liquidity than confidence in Japanese fiscal policy”.

　　赫尔潘尼说，数据显示，在中国今年头四个月所买入的日本国债中，有96%属于期限不到一年的短期国债——这表明，“中国的这一投资更多是出于流动性考虑，而不是对日本的财政政策表示出信心”。

　　And “the turmoil in the eurozone was a clear factor that will not persist indefinitely”. The investments “could be viewed as being made by default”.

　　“欧元区的危机显然也是因素之一，但这一危机不会无限期持续下去。可以认为，中国做出这一投资是由于缺少其它选择。”

　　Analysts cautioned that the data from Japan's finance ministry did not give the full picture of Chinese buying of JGBs.

　　分析师警告称，日本财务省的数据并未给出中国购买日本国债情况的全貌。

　　The data only take into account transactions from the country of origin. For example, if a Chinese investor bought JGBs via a London-based brokerage, a UK transaction would be recorded.

　　该数据只考虑交易发起国。举例来说，假如一家中国投资者通过伦敦的某家经纪商购买日本国债，那么这笔交易将记在英国名下。

　　Nevertheless, some currency analysts said demand from China had probably been a driver of yen strength. The Japanese currency is up over 20 per cent against the euro since the beginning of the year.

　　尽管如此，一些外汇分析师仍表示，中国对日本国债的需求，很可能是推动日元走强的因素之一。自今年初以来，日元兑欧元累计升值20%以上。

　　Junya Tanase, of JPMorgan, said: “China purchases of JGBs seem to have been one factor supporting the yen . . . though it has not been the main driver.”

　　摩根大通(JPMorgan)的Junya Tanase表示：“中国购买日本国债的行为似乎是支撑日元的因素之一……尽管不是主要因素。”