Over the years, there have been lots of explanations from why Chinese save so much. Here's a new one: the worse that Chinese banks treat their customers, the more that Chinese customers save, an International Monetary Fund study says.

　　多年来，有关中国人为什么喜欢大量储蓄有过许多解释。现在这其中又要新增一条：国际货币基金组织（International Monetary Fund，简称：IMF）的一项研究发现，中国的银行支付的存款利率越低，中国人的储蓄率越高。

　　Since the mid-19990s, China's urban household savings rate has increased to 30% of disposable income from 19%. That's also been a time period when China's per-capita income has risen five-fold. It would make sense that the richer that people became, the less they would save. But in China, it's the opposite.

　　自上世纪90年代中期开始，中国城市家庭的储蓄占可支配收入的比重从19%上升至30%。同期中国人均收入增长了四倍。按理说，人们越富裕，储蓄率越低才对。可是中国的情况正好相反。

　　Why?

　　这是为什么？

　　Some economists argue that the Chinese save to make up for a lousy pension and health-care system, knowing that they'll have to pay steeply if they get sick. Others say the Chinese want to buy apartments, which China's communist government made widely available for sale in the late '90s. Still others say that families of boys save especially a lot because they want to be able to help make their sons better marriage bait.

　　一些经济学家认为，中国人增加储蓄是因为中国的养老和医保体系还很不完善。中国人清楚，一旦生病他们就要大把花钱。其他人则认为中国人储蓄是想买房，中国政府在上世纪90年代末实施了住房商品化改革。然而还有一些人说，生了男孩儿的家庭储蓄尤其多是因为父母想帮助儿子更容易地娶到媳妇。

　　IMF economist Malhar Nabar has a different theory. The Chinese, he says, have a target amount of savings in mind to pay for homes, appliances, health care and what have you. And they will try to reach that target no matter what.

　　对此，IMF的经济学家纳巴（Malhar Nabar）有不同看法。他说，中国人心中有一个储蓄目标，因为他们有买房、购置家电、支付医保账单等一系列支出。无论发生什么情况，他们总会努力实现这个目标。

　　So when banks pay less interest, after adjusting for inflation, they'll save more. And when they pay higher interest, they'll save less because it's then easier for them to hit their targets.

　　因此，当银行减少支付的利息之后（经通胀因素调整），中国居民会增加储蓄。而银行增加支付的利息后，中国居民便会减少储蓄，这是因为他们会更容易地实现自己的储蓄目标。

　　Since 1996, the rates at Chinese banks have gotten progressively worse ─ meaning that they have fallen further and further below the rate of inflation. As a result, the Chinese have saved more and more. Thus, the worse the banks treat their customers, the more their customers save.

　　自1996年以来，中国商业银行支付的存款利率日益降低，这意味着存款利率和通货膨胀率的差距越来越大。因此，中国人的储蓄率越来越高。所以才有本文开头的结论：在中国，存款利率越低，储蓄率越高。

　　“A sustained increase in the interest rates on bank deposits, and wider access to alternative investment opportunities would make it easier for households to meet their target saving accumulation,” Nabar writes. In other words, they would save less when the banks treated them better.

　　纳巴写道，持续提高银行存款利率并拓宽居民进行其它投资的渠道能令中国家庭更易实现他们的储蓄目标。换句话说，如果银行能提高存款利率，中国家庭就会降低储蓄率。