China has surged ahead of the US to regain its title as the world’s biggest investor in renewable energy, new figures showed on Monday.

　　周一的新数据显示，中国超越美国，在可再生能源领域再度成为全球最大投资国。

　　But the amount of money put into wind farms, solar parks and other forms of green power worldwide plummeted 11 per cent in 2012, the biggest annual fall in at least eight years, according to the Bloomberg New Energy Finance research company.

　　但《彭博新能源财经》(Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF)研究公司表示，2012年全球投入风力发电场、太阳能电厂以及其他形式绿色能源的资金下跌11%，呈现至少8年来最大年度跌幅，

　　The fall was caused by a mix of regulatory uncertainty and policy changes in big renewables markets such as the US, Spain, Italy and India, said BNEF, which has been tracking renewable energy deals since 2004.

　　BNEF表示，下跌是由美国、西班牙、意大利和印度等大型可再生能源市场的监管不确定性和政策变动等综合因素造成的。

　　This took global investment down to $268.7bn last year, well below the company’s revised figure of $302.3bn for 2011 – a record year.

　　这使去年全球投资降至2687亿美元，远低于2011年修订后创纪录的3023亿美元。

　　The fall came despite a record $67.7bn investment in China last year, up 20 per cent from 2011, mostly thanks to growth in its solar power sector.

　　全球新能源总投资下降之际，去年中国的投资额达到创纪录的677亿美元，相比2011年增长20%，这主要归功于其太阳能发电领域的增长。

　　China replaced the US as the biggest investor in so-called clean energy in 2009 but lost its lead in 2011 after the Obama administration introduced subsidies as part of its 2009 economic stimulus package.

　　在所谓的清洁能源领域，中国曾在2009年取代美国，成为最大的投资国，但在2011年丢掉了领先地位，因为奥巴马政府推出了清洁能源补贴政策，这是其2009年经济刺激方案中的一部分。

　　The US is now firmly in second place. Outlays in the world’s largest economy sank by almost a third to $44.2bn in 2012 amid fears that important wind power tax credits would lapse at the end of the year.

　　目前美国稳居第二。2012年，由于人们担心重要的风电税收抵免将于年末结束，全球最大经济体的新能源投资下跌了近三分之一，至442亿美元。

　　In the event they did not, but the uncertainty sapped investor confidence, as did the US shale gas revolution, which has helped push down gas prices and made other forms of energy generation less attractive.

　　即便税收抵免政策并没有结束，但其不确定性，加上美国的页岩气革命，削弱了投资者的信心。页岩气革命压低了天然气价格，降低了其他能源生产形式的吸引力。

　　Still, last year’s global $268.7bn investment figure was five times that of 2004 and the second-highest on record.

　　不过，去年全球新能源投资额达2687亿美元，是2004年的5倍，达到有记录以来第二高的水平。