英闻天下——111 China's 2012 Foreign Trade Growth Slows to 6.2 Pct

 　　China's customs authorities are reporting a 6.2 percent rise of the country's foreign trade volume this past year.

 

　　And as CRI's Shen Chengcheng reports, officials remain optimistic about China's foreign trade this year, despite world economic uncertainties¹.

 

　　China's exports and imports volume totaled 3.87 trillion U.S. dollars in 2012, but the growth rate of 6.2 percent missed the government's 10-percent annual target.

 

　　Zheng Yuesheng, General Administration of Customs spokesman, explains.

 

　　"First, there has been a decrease of foreign demand and orders, second, because of the increase of production cost, Chinese exports became less competitive, third, the international trade protectionism has been prevailing². And fourth, domestic demand has been weakening so as the momentum³ of imports."

 

　　China's exports rose 7.9 percent in 2012 from the previous year while imports increased 4.3 percent.

 

　　Foreign trade surplus widened to over 230-billion U.S. dollars last year, 48.1 percent more than the level recorded in 2011.

 

　　Zheng Yuesheng said in the past year the United States has overcome the European Union to become China's biggest export destination.

 

　　Meantime, Hong Kong has replaced Japan as the mainland's fourth trading partner.

 

　　"In 2012, there's a decrease in trade with EU and Japan, the essential reason for this is the dire⁴ situation the two economies have experienced. Sino-Japanese trade was down 3.9 percent, partly due to the negative effect from the Diaoyu island dispute."

 

　　However, Zheng said that China's trade will be "slightly better" in 2013 than 2012.

 

　　"All the negative factors we encountered in foreign trade in 2012 will remain in 2013. For example, the recovery of the world economy lack momentum, which means foreign demand will remain weak. This along with high production costs and trade protectionism will worsen Chinese companies' trading environment. But we think there are going to be some positive changes this year, such as major economies' stimulus⁵ policies will revive the world economy."

 

　　Zheng said the Chinese government would continue its work to support the steady growth of foreign trade.

 

　　For CRI, I'm Shen Chengcheng.

1 uncertainties   

无把握( uncertainty的名词复数 )； 不确定； 变化不定； 无把握、不确定的事物

参考例句：

• One of the uncertainties of military duty is that you never know when you might suddenly get posted away. 任军职不稳定的因素之一是你永远不知道什么时候会突然被派往它处。
• Uncertainties affecting peace and development are on the rise. 影响和平与发展的不确定因素在增加。 来自汉英非文学 - 十六大报告

2 prevailing   

adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的

参考例句：

• She wears a fashionable hair style prevailing in the city.她的发型是这个城市流行的款式。
• This reflects attitudes and values prevailing in society.这反映了社会上盛行的态度和价值观。

3 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

4 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

5 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。