|
|
THE World Trade Organization (WTO), like many clubs, denies patrons the right of automatic readmission. Having quit the organization’s predecessor shortly after the Communist revolution of 1949, China had to wait 15 long years to gain entry after reapplying in the 1980s. The doors finally opened on December 11th 2001, ten years ago this week.
|
第一段主要讲述中国脱离关贸总协定后复关入世的艰难。 【notes】1. patron n.老主顾,此处指包括中国在内的原始成员国 2. predecessor (被取代的)原有事物, 前身,此处即WTO的前身关贸总协定 3. Communist revolution共产革命,即1949年新中国成立 【扩展阅读】
|
|||||||
The price of re-entry was as steep as the wait was long. China had to relax over 7,000 tariffs, quotas and other trade barriers. Some feared that foreign competition would uproot farmers and upend rusty state-owned enterprises (SOEs), as to some extent it did. But China, overall, has enjoyed one of the best decades in global economic history. Its dollar GDP has quadrupled, its exports almost quintupled.
|
第二段主要阐述中国重返WTO后做出了很大的让步和牺牲,但同时也享受到了入世的福利,经济得到了大幅发展。 【notes】1.Steep adj.(价格或要求)过高的,不合理的;The price of re-entry was as steep as the wait was long意译为:等待的时间有多长,重返的代价就有多大 2. uproot v.把……赶出家园,动摇……的根基;upend v.颠倒,引申为摧毁 3.rusty adj.生锈的,腐蚀的,引申为腐朽的 4. state-owned enterprises (SOEs) 国有企业 5. quadruple vi.成四倍;quintuple vi.成五倍 【扩展阅读】 |
|||||||
Many foreigners also prospered. American foreign direct investment reaps returns of 13.5% in China, compared with 9.7% worldwide, according to K.C. Fung of the University of California, Santa Cruz. China imposes lower tariffs on average than Brazil or India. The gap between what it can charge, under WTO rules, and what it does charge is also unusually small. So unlike its peers, China could not raise tariffs much even if it wanted to (see chart).
|
第三段首句立下论点:中国加入WTO后,许多外国国家也因此收益。然后以美国在中国的高的直接投资回报收益为例进行论证。之后涉及了中国加入WTO立下的关于降低关税的承诺,同时也判断中国未来的关税还是无法提高的。 【notes】 【扩展阅读】 暂无,需要你的智慧哦:) [我来补充] |
|||||||
Yet in America, China’s single biggest trading partner, sentiment towards the country has turned starkly negative. In a recent poll, 61% of Americans said that China’s recent economic expansion had been bad for America; just 15% thought it had been good. This partly reflects China’s controversial currency regime. By keeping the exchange rate down, China’s critics allege, it has gained a substitute for the mercantilist measures it gave up to join the WTO.
|
第四段主要阐述了中国正面临的负面评论,开头一句就明确说到,美国对中国的态度已经趋向于消极,然后又以一组民意调查数据进行论证。最后也引用了对中国的批评者的观点。
【notes】 【扩展阅读】 |
|||||||
Foreign frustration is partly a sign of China’s success. As its economy has grown and matured, the stakes have risen. Foreign firms lament losing trade battles they might not bother to wage in a less lucrative market. They also face competition from local upstarts in markets where no such rivals previously existed.
|
第五段描述外国人在贸易上利润的减少正好同中国经济的蓬勃发展形成对比。 【note】1.stake: n. 赌注,风险,利益(有复数形式stakes)。2.lucrative:有利可图的,赚钱的。3.local upstarts: upstart本身有暴发户意思,此处引申为崛起者,新贵。 【扩展阅读】trade battles:贸易战争,自全球贸易初具雏形之日起,“战争”就与之如影随形。有关贸易战争的形式多种多样,既有纯粹商业性质的竞争与博弈,也有因此而引发真正军事意义上的,甚至是大规模的战争。 |
|||||||
Electronic payments are one example. China’s first ever payment card was issued in 1986 by MasterCard. Foreign brands remained dominant at the time of China’s WTO entry. But shortly afterwards, China’s central bank established a domestic competitor, China Union Pay, and gave it a de facto monopoly over the handling of local-currency payments between merchants and banks. This setback might have been easier to take for foreign companies had the market not since grown tenfold, to $1.6 trillion, according to The Nilson Report, an industry newsletter.
|
第六段承接上文提到的在中国本土的崛起的新秀,举例并详细解释了这些local upstarts如何造成对外国公司的威胁。 【note】1. shortly afterward:不久之后,也可用于句中。2. de facto monopoly:指一种非政府制造的垄断。de facto(实际上)是一项拉丁语的表述,用于无法律或标准可跟从的实作情况或共识。与拉丁语的de jure相对,指“法律上”由政府干预的手段。3. tenfold:adv.十倍地,成十倍。 【扩展阅读】1. MasterCard 万事达卡。目前国际上有五大信用卡品牌,分别是威士国际组织(VISA International)及万事达卡国际组织(MasterCard International)两大组织及美国运通国际股份有限公司(America Express)、大来信用卡有限公司(Diners Club)、JCB日本国际信用卡公司(JCB)三家专业信用卡公司。>>VISA卡和Master卡的区别? 2. China UnionPay 中国银联。也可在境外使用 |
|||||||
China’s economy has evolved faster than anyone hoped. But its economic philosophy has not. Long Yongtu, who helped China win admission to the WTO, recently said that China is now moving further away from the organization’s principles. To modernize its economy, it has remained wedded to industrial policies, state-owned enterprises, and a “techno-nationalism” that protects and promotes home-grown technologies.
|
第七段段旨在说明:中国的经济在迅速发展,但是更注重保护国内产业和本土技术的发展。龙永图认为中国经济渐渐背离了WTO的组织原则。 【notes】1、evolve 进化、逐渐形成发展 2、remain wedded to 仍然坚持 3、techno-nationalism 技术民族主义,指用政治手段来确保国防技术进步和中国产业的经济优势 4、home-grown technologies 本土技术
【扩展阅读】1、Long Yongtu: 龙永图,中国入世首席谈判代表,外经贸部党组成员、首席谈判代表(副部长级),中国人民大学、首都经贸大学兼职教授,中国入世谈判首席专家。2010年就任G20中心秘书长。 |
|||||||
Many foreign companies feel they must compete not with Chinese firms but with the Chinese state. Between them, China’s central and local governments own over 100,000 companies and implicitly favor many more. Thanks to the WTO, foreign firms are no longer required to hand over technology in exchange for entry to China’s market. But many still feel an informal pressure to do so. China is also keen to promote its own firms by enforcing its own technological standards, such as for 3G mobile phones.
|
第八段承接上文,中国通过WTO,在与外企的竞争中获益良多,其中中国的国家政策扮演了重要角色。同时中国还积极自主研发技术,推动国内产业发展。 【notes】1、Chinese state 这里指中国的国家机构、政策 2、implicitly favor 暗中扶持 3、Foreign firms are no longer required to hand over technology in exchange for entry to China’s market.外企不再要求用技术来换取进入中国市场 4、informal pressure 无形压力 5、be keen to 渴望、热衷于 6、enforce 强制、实行 【扩展阅读】中国受困贸易保护主义,技术性贸易壁垒 |
|||||||
Many of these interventions violate the spirit, if not always the letter of WTO rules. In response, America often pushes back bilaterally rather than in Geneva, according to a former American trade negotiator. This is partly because companies worry they will face retribution from China’s government if they provide evidence against it in a trade case. It is also because much of what China does falls into a grey area that is not easy for the WTO to police
|
第九段大意是中国的背离组织原则的对市场的干涉使得部分外企因为怕中国政府报复而选择不起诉,这也是中国成为WTO不易监管灰色地带的原因。 【notes】 1.Interventions 干涉,干预。这里是指中国的一些背离组织原则的对市场的干涉。2.If not 不然的话。这里是指中国的干涉行为与WTO的宗旨相违背,要不就是与规则条款相抵触。3.In response 作为回答。4.Bilaterally 双方面地。这里是指双方面的接触。5.Retribution 报复。6.Fall into 落入,陷于。7.Police 这里是指监管。
|
|||||||
China, on the other hand, is growing more comfortable with the WTO machinery. In its early years as a member, it shied away from confrontation, points out Henry Gao of Singapore Management University. In 2006, for example, America threatened to file a complaint over China’s duties on kraft linerboard. China lifted the duties the next working day. But now the Chinese have learned the ropes, they have also become more proactive. “Now they defend themselves,” says Nicholas Lardy of the Peterson Institute, a Washington think-tank. “They initiate cases. And when they lose, they comply.
|
第十段主要是讲诉中国进入WTO初期和现在的部分不同。中国进入WTO初期逃避对抗,而如今中国已经变得积极主动,开始维护自己。 【notes】1.Machinery 机械,机构。这里是指WTO体系。2.Shied away from 逃避。3.File a complaint over 就……提起诉讼。4.Duties 关税。这里是指牛皮面纸板关税。5.Lift 取消,解除。这里说中国第二个工作日就取消了牛皮面纸板关税。6.Learn the ropes 摸到门道,弄清内幕。7.Proactive 积极主动地。8.Comply 顺从,遵守。
新加坡管理大学 (Singapore Management University),简称新大 (SMU),是新加坡三所大学之一。 华盛顿智库彼得森研究所是由伯格斯滕(C. Fred Bergsten)成立于1981年一个私营的、非营利的、无党派的研究所,是非牟利无党派的美国两大智库之一。1981年以来,该研究所对广泛的国际经济问题给予了及时客观的分析。 |
|||||||
In some cases the discrimination is no worse than before, it is simply more visible. As part of its WTO agreement, China now circulates draft laws and regulations for 30 days to collect comments. That has made it easier for foreigners to spot foul play. America recently complained that China had failed to notify the WTO of nearly 200 subsidy programmes, such as those supporting green-energy technology. It knew this in part because China, following its newly transparent practice, had disclosed many such programmes online, the former negotiator said: “Similar policy announcements were neibu (for limited distribution) in the past.
|
第十一段大意:在相关的案例中,对中国的歧视依然存在,外国人也更有机会钻法律的空子,但这同样迫使中国开始将一系列贸易政策进行公开。 【notes】1.discrimination : 差别待遇,差别对待,(尤指对少数集团的歧视) 【扩展阅读】 |
|||||||
China’s trade policies may look a little uglier than WTO members had hoped when they opened the club’s doors ten years ago. But that is partly because the lights have been turned on
|
第十二段(最后一段)入世十年,中国在不断完善自身的贸易政策,我们应期待更好的未来。 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
联系我们 | 关于我们 | 我要留言 | 投稿专区 | 网站地图
版权所有 Copyright© 2005 江财国际 许可证编号:赣ICP备05005487号 |