While politicians in Europe, the US and most other developed economies struggle with the prospect of another downturn, China’s leaders are facing the opposite problem – how to stop their domestic economy from roaring ahead too quickly.

　　在欧美等多数发达经济体的政界人士艰难应对经济再次下滑的前景之际，中国领导人面对的却是截然相反的问题，即如何阻止中国经济过快猛增。

　　In an article on Thursday, Wen Jiabao, Chinese premier, said reining in soaring consumer prices was the top priority for Beijing, as it had been for most of this year, and that China’s “macro-control and adjustment direction cannot be changed”.

　　中国总理温家宝在周四发表的一篇文章中表示，遏制不断飙升的消费价格仍是北京方面的首要任务（今年以来大部分时候一直是这样），同时“宏观调控的取向不能变”。

　　Most analysts believe Mr Wen is signalling Beijing’s reluctance to unleash another enormous stimulus package such as the one it launched in late 2008, and that China’s leaders feel the economy is robust enough for them to continue to dampen growth.

　　多数分析师相信，温家宝发出的信号表明，北京方面不愿出炉又一套庞大的刺激计划（中国曾在2008年末推出大规模刺激计划），而且中国领导人觉得目前经济相当稳健，足以让他们继续抑制增长。

　　After nearly a year of monetary tightening, the Chinese economy has responded almost exactly as the mandarins in Beijing wanted, with a gradual slowdown to a steady growth rate that reduces the chances of overheating and runaway inflation.

　　经过近一年的收紧货币政策，中国经济的反应与北京的官员们所希望的几乎一模一样，逐渐放缓至一个稳定的增长率，降低了经济过热及通胀失控的几率。

　　In fact, the global turmoil in recent weeks that has revived fears of a double-dip recession in the west has potentially made Mr Wen’s job of reining in the domestic economy somewhat easier.

　　事实上，近几周来导致人们再度担心西方出现双底衰退的全球动荡，有可能使温家宝抑制国内经济过热的工作变得容易了一些。

　　In a sign that China is headed for a soft touch-down, the country’s official purchasing managers’ index climbed 0.2 points to 50.9 in August after falling for four months. A separate measure published by HSBC and Markit Economics came in at 49.9, up from 49.3 in July. A reading below 50 indicates contraction while a number above 50 indicates expansion.

　　中国经济走向软着陆的一个迹象是，8月份，中国官方的采购经理指数(PMI)上升0.2，至50.9，结束此前连续四个月的回落走势。另外，汇丰(HSBC)和Markit Economics发表的中国采购经理指数8月达到49.9，高于7月份的49.3。读数低于50表示经济活动收缩，高于50则表示扩张。

　　Most economists have reduced their expectations for Chinese expansion this year in response to the deteriorating prospects in developed economies, although the predicted growth rate remains the envy of the world. UBS has lowered its forecast for growth in gross domestic product from 9.3 per cent to 9 per cent in 2011 from a year earlier and from 9 per cent to 8.3 per cent in 2012 because “the expected drop in developing markets growth will hurt China’s exports and related investment”.

　　针对发达经济体前景恶化，多数经济学家已调低了他们对中国经济今年扩张幅度的预期，尽管他们预测的中国经济增长率仍是令世界艳羡的。瑞银(UBS)已将2011年中国国内生产总值(GDP)同比增幅从9.3%下调至9%，2012年增幅从9%下调至8.3%，理由是“发展中市场预期将出现的增长放缓，会损害中国的出口及相关投资”。

　　Persistent inflation, particularly for politically sensitive food prices, has been the top economic policy concern for Beijing since the start of the year; consumer inflation hit a three-year high of 6.5 per cent in July. However, the global gloom could provide positive news for China on this front too.

　　居高不下的通胀，尤其是具有政治敏感性的食品价格通胀，自今年初以来一直是中国政府在经济政策方面的首要关切。7月份，中国消费价格通胀达到6.5%的三年高位。不过，全球悲观情绪有望在这个方面也给中国带来积极的消息。

　　“Broadly speaking, the decline in global demand will likely reduce commodity prices,” says Ma Jun, chief economist for Greater China at Deutsche Bank. “

　　大致说来，全球需求下降很可能压低大宗商品价格，”德意志银行(Deutsche Bank)大中华区首席经济学家马骏表示。

　　Of course, the misfortunes of developed economies are not all good news for China.

　　当然，发达经济体的不幸对中国也不全是好消息。

　　If US and European growth slows drastically, as it did in 2008, it would prompt a collapse in Chinese exports, causing domestic production and investment also to slump, and raise the possibility of a hard landing that would be exacerbated by recent tightening measures.

　　如果美欧经济增长大幅放缓（就像2008年的情况那样），那将引发中国出口剧减，进而导致国内生产和投资大幅下滑，硬着陆的可能性提高，而近期的收紧措施将使这一局面变得更为糟糕。

　　The official PMI data showed new export orders dropped significantly in August, but domestic orders made up for the slump to keep the new order sub-index at 51.1 for the month, unchanged from July.

　　官方的PMI数据显示，8月份新的出口订单显著下降，但国内订单弥补了缺口，使当月新订单分类指数达到51.1，与7月份持平。

　　This was taken by some analysts as fresh evidence that the government is beginning to make headway in its goal to rebalance the economy away from an over-reliance on exports and more towards domestic demand.

　　这被一些分析师列为最新证据，证明中国政府正开始朝着自己的目标取得进展，即实现经济再平衡，减轻对出口的过度依赖，在更大程度上转向国内需求。

　　Economists say China is certainly less dependent on its export sector than it was when the global crisis hit in 2008, but top Chinese officials, including Mr Wen, freely admit that the economy is still far too reliant on investment.

　　经济学家们表示，与2008年全球危机爆发的时候相比，现在中国对出口行业的依赖度肯定是下降了，但是，包括温家宝在内的中国高层官员坦率地承认，中国经济对投资的依赖度仍然过高。