美国国家公共电台 NPR China's Close Government-Business Ties Are A Key Challenge In U.S. Trade Talks

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

U.S. trade talks with China face a fundamental problem. The two countries are negotiating to end a trade war. It was triggered by President Trump¹'s demand for better terms. Now, it's easy for the Chinese to, say, promise to buy more U.S. goods. They've got the money. But it's hard for China to alter a basic fact of its economy. Unlike the U.S. government, China's government owns half the country's largest companies, and many receive big subsidies². That is the advantage the United States wants China to give up. NPR's Jim Zarroli reports.

JIM ZARROLI, BYLINE³: Michael Korchmar runs a company that makes travel bags and briefcases⁴. It's been in his family for four generations. Over the years, he has watched one company after another in his field go out of business. And for those that survive...

MICHAEL KORCHMAR: Oh, that means you lose. I lived it. We lost. We had, you know, 500 people employed in the U.S. And we went down to five.

ZARROLI: Korchmar says a big problem for companies like his is brutal⁵ competition from Chinese rivals. He says they can undercut his prices because they're subsidized by their government. And this is at the heart of the current trade talks - the extent to which China props⁶ up its companies. Just last week, Massachusetts Congressman⁷ Richard Neal, who heads the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, spoke⁸ about it.

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RICHARD NEAL: The China that we trade with and compete with today is very different from the one that we had hoped would emerge. China's economy, which has taken on some market characteristics, remains⁹ fundamentally state-directed.

ZARROLI: More than half of China's biggest companies are owned by the government. They include essential sectors¹⁰ like railroads, energy, shipbuilding and telecommunications. But government officials also maintain strong ties to private companies, says Jennifer Hillman of Georgetown University Law Center.

JENNIFER HILLMAN: They're able to direct resources and push resources into those industries and those entities¹¹ that they are trying to favor.

ZARROLI: Hillman notes that Communist Party members sit on the board of virtually every big Chinese company. The four largest banks are controlled by the government. Mark Wu of Harvard Law School says even when a Chinese company is privately¹² owned, it works hard to stay in Beijing's good graces.

MARK WU: People understand what the objectives are, and they'll operate within those confines. It's especially true when the state asserts a strong enough control over the key elements of the economy, as the Chinese economy still does.

ZARROLI: It wasn't supposed to be this way. When China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, it agreed to reform its system to become more free market. But Patrick Chovanec of Silvercrest Asset Management says events of the past decade have made China more confident about its own system.

PATRICK CHOVANEC: In the wake of 2008 financial crisis, China took a different look at what its economic model should look like. And a model that was more state-driven looked a lot more attractive to them.

ZARROLI: Under President Xi Jinping, the government's role in the economy has only gotten bigger. U.S. officials say these policies violate the spirit if not the letter of trade law. And they've pressed Beijing to stop subsidizing businesses. But the ties between the government and business in China can be opaque¹³. Chovanec says Chinese officials know how to give preferential treatment to their own companies at the expense of outsiders without leaving their fingerprints¹⁴ anywhere.

CHOVANEC: They will just say, well, there's a slowdown in inspections¹⁵ of this type of product from your country. It's for safety. It makes it hard for you to then turn around and say, OK. You're engaging in illegal activity because there's complete deniability.

ZARROLI: Harvard's Mark Wu says the Trump administration needs to be realistic about what it can achieve.

WU: To the extent that we're expecting major fundamental structural¹⁶ reforms, that's going to be very difficult to obtain because they see this governance structure as having been vital for both their political and economic successes.

ZARROLI: Wu says China believes its economic model has served the country well. And it's not going to give it up easily. And that means U.S. trade negotiators have their work cut out for them. Jim Zarroli, NPR News.

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1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 briefcases   

n.公文[事]包( briefcase的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Portfolio, Name Card Holder, Pen, Briefcases, Computer Bags, Bags and Cases. 采购产品文件夹，名字备置卡片烛台，钢笔，公文包，计算机袋子，袋子和情形。 来自互联网
• We have quite an array of leather briefcases. 我们有相当的一批公文包。 来自互联网

5 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

6 props   

小道具； 支柱( prop的名词复数 )； 支持者； 道具； （橄榄球中的）支柱前锋

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The government props up the prices of farm products to support farmers' incomes. 政府保持农产品价格不变以保障农民们的收入。

7 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

12 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

13 opaque   

adj.不透光的；不反光的，不传导的；晦涩的

参考例句：

• The windows are of opaque glass.这些窗户装着不透明玻璃。
• Their intentions remained opaque.他们的意图仍然令人费解。

14 fingerprints   

n.指纹( fingerprint的名词复数 )v.指纹( fingerprint的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Everyone's fingerprints are unique. 每个人的指纹都是独一无二的。
• They wore gloves so as not to leave any fingerprints behind (them). 他们戴着手套，以免留下指纹。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。