Manufacturing miracles
制造奇迹
China’s better economic growth hides reasons to worry
中国经济开门红之下有隐忧
The country’s leaders are too complacent about deflation
中国领导人对通缩太不在意
- complacent 自满的；自鸣得意的；表现出自满的
- deflation 通货紧缩
WHEN CHINA’S leaders set an economic-growth target of “around” 5% for this year, the goal was widely agreed to be ambitious. Now the country looks increasingly likely to meet it. Several foreign banks have raised their forecasts. Data released on April 16th show the economy grew by 5.3% in the first quarter, compared with a year earlier—quicker than expected and faster than the target requires.
当中国领导人将今年的经济增长目标定在5%“左右”时，人们普遍认为这定得偏高。现在看来，中国越来越有可能实现这一目标。几家外国银行已经上调了自己的预测。4月16日公布的数据显示，与去年同期相比，中国经济在一季度增长了5.3%——高于预期，也高于实现目标所需达到的增速。
- ambitious 形容人“有野心的、有强烈欲望的、有志向抱负的、雄心勃勃的”（参见：小词详解 | ambitious）
How is this happening? Countries at China’s stage of development often shift towards services. Yet China’s leaders have a soft spot for “hard” output. Xi Jinping, the country’s ruler, sees manufacturing as a source of both prosperity and security. He covets what officials call a “complete” industrial chain that would free China from reliance on foreign powers for vital technological inputs. His latest five-year plan aims to stop the steady decline in manufacturing’s share of GDP.
这是如何做到的？如果一个国家到了中国目前的发展阶段，它通常会向服务业转型。然而中国领导人对“硬”产出情有独钟。最高领导人习近平把制造业视为繁荣和安全之源。他渴望实现官员所称的“完整”产业链，让中国在关键技术投入方面摆脱对外部强国的依赖。在最新的五年计划中，他要停止制造业在GDP中的占比不断下滑的局面。
- covet 贪求、觊觎、垂涎（参见：小词详解 | covet）
