商业报道:美国房产中的中国投资

Chinese invest in US homes

A group of 40 Chinese investors² is looking to place money in the US housing market, CNN's Emily Chang reports.

At the Beijing Airport, 40 Chinese investors embark³ on a mission to open their wallets on the other side of the world and buy a house in the United States.

“The price's right,” says lawyer Yin Guohua. For him, it will be a home away from home, a place to stay on business and quite simply an opportunity to get a deal.

“It sounds cheap,” says this business woman, “but I’ll have to see it with my own eyes.”

Their journey will take them on a tour of bargain and foreclosure properties from L.A. to Las Vegas, San Francisco, Boston and New York. Yin says he’s been watching the US Housing market for two years. He’s willing to spend up to a million dollars and pay it all at once.

“This could be a positive stimulus⁴ for the American economy,” he says. He’s a family man who already owns 3 properties in Beijing.

“Our son will have a place to stay when he goes to America for school some day,” his wife says.

The house hunting trip is being run by a Chinese real estate brokerage, Soufun.com. The company says it received hundreds of applications for just 40 spots from Chinese eager to invest overseas, but it raised questions: Are the Chinese capitalizing on the misfortune of Americans in the Subprime Mortgage Crisis and is this the start of a dangerous flow of capital out of China when China's own economy is slowing down?

“It is still a very, very small fraction of the purchasing power here in China. So I don't think, you know, er, this, er, you know, small group of people, because of their personal interest or their, for whatever reason is going to affect the China's demand for properties.”

Foreigners can buy property in the US under fairly simple guidelines, they may have to make a bigger down payment or pay more taxes. And investment experts say China's restrictions⁵ on transferring money out of the country are relatively⁶ easy to navigate⁷.

Yin has his eyes on a few homes in New York and L.A., but like any smart investor¹, he says he won't make a deal unless it's a good one.

Emily Chang, CNN, Beijing.

Vocabulary:

1. embark on: begin or start (a piece of work, etc.)着手，从事

2. bargain: something you buy cheaply or for less than its usual price廉价货

3. foreclosure: A situation in which a homeowner is unable to make principal and/or interest payments on his or her mortgage, so the lender, be it a bank or building society, can seize and sell the property as stipulated⁸ in the terms of the mortgage contract. 抵押品赎回权的丧失

4. brokerage: a business, firm, or company whose business is to act as a broker经纪人(或中间人)业务

5. Subprime Mortgage Crisis: an ongoing⁹ financial crisis characterized by contracted liquidity¹⁰ in global credit markets and banking¹¹ systems.次贷危机

6. purchasing power: The value of a currency expressed in terms of the amount of goods or services that one unit of money can buy.购买力

7. down payment: A type of payment made in cash during the onset¹² of the purchase of an expensive good/service.首付

1 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 embark   

vi.乘船，着手，从事，上飞机

参考例句：

• He is about to embark on a new business venture.他就要开始新的商业冒险活动。
• Many people embark for Europe at New York harbor.许多人在纽约港乘船去欧洲。

4 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

5 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

6 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

7 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

8 stipulated   

vt.& vi.规定；约定adj.[法]合同规定的

参考例句：

• A delivery date is stipulated in the contract. 合同中规定了交货日期。
• Yes, I think that's what we stipulated. 对呀，我想那是我们所订定的。 来自辞典例句

9 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

10 liquidity   

n.流动性，偿债能力，流动资产

参考例句：

• The bank has progressively increased its liquidity.银行逐渐地增加其流动资产。
• The demand for and the supply of credit is closely linked to changes in liquidity.信用的供求和流动资金的变化有密切关系。

11 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

12 onset   

n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始

参考例句：

• The drug must be taken from the onset of the infection.这种药必须在感染的最初期就开始服用。
• Our troops withstood the onset of the enemy.我们的部队抵挡住了敌人的进攻。