中国经济仍将路遇颠簸

中国经济增长放缓并不令人意外，但经济失衡令人担忧。动作迟缓的国有企业得到的资本远超理智水平，而充满活力的中小企业只能吸引到较少资金。这方面的改革仅取得微小进展。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

decry抨击、谴责[dɪ'kraɪ]

trumpet大声说出或宣告|['trʌmpɪt]vt.

sluggish['slʌɡɪʃ]adj.行动迟缓的

piecemeal[ˈpi:smi:l]adj.零碎的;逐个完成的

China GDP: push me pull you (321 words) by Lex, January 21, 2015 6:15 pm

China announces what the market already knows: annual economic output grew by “about 7.5 per cent”. The actual number: 7.4. Despite the lack of surprise, this can still be taken as either a disaster or a relief. Bears decry the slowest growth since 1990. Bulls trumpet a positive surprise: economist forecasts for 2014 had been revised down to 7.3 per cent (merely the lowest number that could still be rounded up to 7.5).

Either way, China is slowing on an annual basis. Again, no surprise since there is more of the economy to grow: 7.4 per cent of a $17tn economy is more than 10 per cent of the $6tn economy China was a couple of years back.

Of more concern are the economic imbalances. China has long been a junkie of fixed-asset investment, which accounts for about half of GDP — even as that investment becomes increasingly unproductive. Sluggish state-owned enterprises with implicit government-backed loan guarantees receive more capital than is rational. Vibrant small and medium enterprises, responsible for 60 per cent of GDP and three-quarters of new job creation, attract less funding.

China is making piecemeal progress towards implementing change. This month's launch of WeBank, backed by private enterprises (including Hong Kong-listed Tencent) indicates that the incumbent banks — as firmly entrenched a vested interest as can be found — have lost one round. WeBank targets the smaller borrower. Alibaba, which already extends loans to some of its customers, is likely to launch next.

Structural change generally brings pain. Monetary palliatives might help by stimulating more liquidity. Economists expect more easing after last November's interest rate cut. Yet this, too, has unintended consequences as liquidity flows to shadow finance and into mainstream risk assets. This week's stock market slump as the government moved to curb stock speculation through use of margin lending illustrates the sensitive balance.

China's economy will shift, but the route to change is clearly bumpy. Expect more carrots and sticks — and more bumps — ahead.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What do the “bears” and “bulls” mentioned in the paragraph 1 refer to?

A.Two kinds of animals.

B.The republicans and the democrats

C.The pessimists and the optimists

D.The capitalists and the communists.

答案(1)

2.According the article, which of the statements below is not true?

A.Chinese economy depends a lot on fixed-asset investment.

B.State-owned enterprises cannot make changes flexibly

C.Chinese economy is balanced and steady.

D.Small enterprises attract less funding than big ones.

答案(2)

3.What is the main topic of the article?

A.Economy reform is sure to happen in China, before which it will be confronted with more bumps and uncertainty.

B.China will accelerate the development of small enterprises.

C.Chinese economy won't work unless the state-owned enterprises disappear.

D.China will start its own quantitative easing plan to ensure the success of economy reform.

答案(3)

* * *

(1)答案：C.The pessimists and the optimists

解释：文章第一段中提到的“熊”和“牛”分别指悲观主义者和乐观者。

(2)答案：C.Chinese economy is balanced and steady.

解释：文章第3段讲道，中国经济失衡问题更令人担忧，所以中国经济并不如选项中说的一般平衡。

(3)答案：A.Economy reform is sure to happen in China, before which it will be confronted with more bumps and uncertainty.

解释：本文主旨即为：中国经济将发生转型，但变革的道路显然崎岖不平。预计未来将出现更多的“胡萝卜和大棒”，还有更多的颠簸。

英国《金融时报》