VOA慢速英语2012 Economics Report - A Former American Treasury Secretary Talks About US-China Economic Ties

 

Economics Report - A Former American Treasury¹ Secretary Talks About US-China Economic Ties

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

The world’s two biggest economies and their trade ties are important to global economic progress. China accounts for nearly half of the world’s economic growth. Last year, trade between the United States and China was worth more than five hundred billion dollars.

The two nations share many interests. But they also differ on many, including trade issues.

American and Chinese policy experts have worked to study and improve relations between the trading partners. Recently, former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson spoke² in Washington about his report on a possible new direction in US-China relations. Former National Security Advisor³ Steve Hadley joined the discussion. Both men served in the administration of President George W. Bush. The slowdown in China’s economy was the first issue they discussed. Members of the Chinese news media also attended.

Chinese officials reported last week that the economy grew at a rate of seven and six tenths percent from April to June. That is China’s slowest growth rate in more than three years.

The Chinese economy needs a high growth rate in order to provide jobs for its huge work force. The People’s Bank of China cut its main interest rate twice in July to support lending and economic growth. Mister Paulson said he thinks government measures to control lending will work over the short term.

HENRY PAULSON: “And so I would be quite surprised if they don’t grow somewhere between seven and a half or eight percent this year.”

But there are important economic issues waiting in the future. Much of China’s economic activity depends on investment by state-owned and foreign companies.

Mister Hadley said China’s economy, its Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, depends on investment too much.

STEVE HADLEY: “Almost forty-seven point eight percent of the GDP is investment. Consumption is only thirty-three percent. And one of the things Hank calls for in this paper is they need to move from investment-based economic growth to consumption-based economic growth.”

Consumer or personal spending accounts for about two thirds of the economy in the United States.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report. Join us next week for part two of our report on economic ties between the United States and China. For transcripts⁴, MP3s and now PDFs of our programs for e-readers, go to www.voanews.cn. And follow us on Facebook, Twitter and iTunes at VOA Learning English. You can also find our captioned⁵ videos at the VOA Learning English channel on YouTube. I’m Mario Ritter.

1 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

2 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。

3 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

4 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句

5 captioned   

a.标题项下的； 标题所说的

参考例句：

• This paper reviews the production, development and nationalization of the captioned materials. 本文就铜系合金引线框架材料的生产、发展和国产化进程作一论述。
• Please advise other considerable hotels for this captioned group. 请推荐其它一些高级的旅馆给这一群打标语的人。