VOA标准英语2011--Higher Production Costs Shift Chinese Ma

Higher Production Costs Shift Chinese Manufacturing

For decades, China's factories have supplied the world with cheap goods - from denim¹ jeans to desktop² computers. But export prices are expected to go up as Chinese manufacturers are battered³ by higher wages, more expensive raw materials and an appreciating currency.
iPhone to invest in Brazil
During her recent visit to Beijing, Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff said Foxconn International Holdings, the company that manufactures Apple's popular iPhone, plans to spend $12 billion building factories in her country.
For some time, Foxconn has been expanding outside of its traditional manufacturing base in southern China, shifting north to Hebei province, to cut costs. The company, which employs hundreds of thousands of workers in China, reported a loss for 2010 because of higher production costs.
Companies opt⁴ out
Companies increasingly are moving out of southern China's manufacturing hub in the Pearl River Delta⁵ as profits decline.
Stanley Lau is managing director of Renley Watch Manufacturing Company. He also heads the Pearl River Delta Council of the Hong Kong Federation⁶ of Industries.
"Wages are going up. The minimum wage has gone up by about 20 percent in 2010. And again this year wages have gone up by 20 percent roughly," said Lau. "When you look at any part of the world, I think you cannot find any other place with such kind of increase in wages."
What is more, he says, the cost of raw materials such as cotton, plastics and electronic components⁷, is rising. Although the Chinese currency has been rising against the dollar, which could help ease rising costs for imported raw materials, manufacturers say even locally made materials are getting more expensive. China's inflation rate reached 5.4 percent in March, the highest in nearly three years.
At the same time, the yuan's appreciation⁸, which the United States and other Western nations say is essential to reduce China's trade imbalance, makes Chinese products more expensive overseas.
Export prices to increase
Li and Fung, a Hong Kong sourcing company that supplies the U.S. retailer¹⁰ Wal-Mart and other global retail⁹ chains, says Chinese export prices will increase as much as 15 percent this year. Company executives last month warned that Chinese goods are entering a new era of rising prices.
The challenges Chinese exporters confront are not new. They have been ramping¹¹ up over the past two years. In 2008, China implemented¹² a new law that increased factory workers' salaries. At that time, manufacturers warned that many of them would be forced to close because of rising wages.
Pansy Yau, deputy chief economist¹³ of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, says Chinese exports have stayed strong since then.
"When we look at the share of China export in Europe and the [United] States, we find that the import share from China continues to increase. It proves that China is not only competing on cost because after all these years the wages in China are already higher than some Southeast Asian countries and other low-cost countries," said Yau.
The Chinese government has been encouraging manufacturers to move factories to poorer inland regions as a way to distribute economic development. Lau says not all industries can do so because they rely on the efficient supply chain in southern China, near other factories making needed components.
Southern China is blessed with deep ports that allow access for container ships bringing raw materials and carrying finished products to the rest of the world. Also, electricity and water supply are stable. Moving factories inland could prove costlier¹⁴ than staying put because companies may have to pay more in shipping¹⁵ costs.
Relocating to Vietnam, Indonesia
When it comes to moving overseas, the Federation of Industries' Lau says it will be easiest for textile manufacturers to relocate to places like Vietnam and Indonesia, because the infrastructure¹⁶ is already there.
"Years ago when they had a problem with the [export] quotas¹⁸, many textile industries moved part of their production to these countries in order to get a better quota¹⁷ for their textile products," said Lau. "So there's a good set up in those countries. For the other industries like electronics, plastics, the watch and clock industries, it's more difficult because if you're going to move you need the whole supply chain to move together with you. You will have problems in the delivery of parts."
At the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, economist Yau says the pinch that Chinese exporters are feeling could well reverberate¹⁹ in supermarkets and shops across the world. She says it is inevitable²⁰ rising costs will be passed on to customers.
"Once they can prove that their product is good and [has] value for money, then they have the bargaining power to ask for a price increase," added Yau.
China's ruling Communist Party has made clear it wants to hold the line on prices - for goods sold at home and abroad. The government is working to tamp²¹ down inflation to make sure high prices for food and housing do not spark unrest. And Beijing has moved slowly on its pledge to let the yuan trade more freely - fearing that a sharp gain in the exchange rate could make exports even more expensive, forcing factories to close and eliminate jobs.

1 denim   

n.斜纹棉布；斜纹棉布裤，牛仔裤

参考例句：

• She wore pale blue denim shorts and a white denim work shirt.她穿着一条淡蓝色的斜纹粗棉布短裤，一件白粗布工作服上衣。
• Dennis was dressed in denim jeans.丹尼斯穿了一条牛仔裤。

2 desktop   

n.桌面管理系统程序；台式

参考例句：

• My computer is a desktop computer of excellent quality.我的计算机是品质卓越的台式计算机。
• Do you know which one is better,a laptop or a desktop?你知道哪一种更好，笔记本还是台式机？

3 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

4 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

5 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

6 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

7 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

8 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

9 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

10 retailer   

n.零售商(人)

参考例句：

• What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢？
• The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。

11 ramping   

土堤斜坡( ramp的现在分词 )； 斜道； 斜路； （装车或上下飞机的）活动梯

参考例句：

• The children love ramping about in the garden. 孩子们喜欢在花园里追逐嬉戏，闹着玩。
• Have you ever seen a lion ramping around? 你看到过狮子暴跳吗？

12 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

13 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

14 costlier   

adj.昂贵的( costly的比较级 )；代价高的；引起困难的；造成损失的

参考例句：

• Alligator skin is five times more costlier than leather. 鳄鱼皮比通常的皮革要贵5倍。 来自互联网
• Disagreements among creditors can be costlier still. 债权人之间的分歧会加大重组的费用。 来自互联网

15 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

16 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

17 quota   

n.（生产、进出口等的）配额，（移民的）限额

参考例句：

• A restricted import quota was set for meat products.肉类产品设定了进口配额。
• He overfulfilled his production quota for two months running.他一连两个月超额完成生产指标。

18 quotas   

（正式限定的）定量( quota的名词复数 )； 定额； 指标； 摊派

参考例句：

• In fulfilling the production quotas, John made rings round all his fellow workers. 约翰完成生产定额大大超过他的同事们。
• Quotas of the means of production are allocated by the higher administrative bodies to the lower ones. 物资指标按隶属关系分配。

19 reverberate   

v.使回响，使反响

参考例句：

• The decision will reverberate and will jar the country.这项决定将引起反响并震撼这个国家。
• Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my hear.痛苦呼喊的一遍遍的在我的心中回响。

20 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

21 tamp   

v.捣实，砸实

参考例句：

• Then I tamp down the soil with the back of a rake.然后我用耙子的背将土壤拍实。
• Philpott tamped a wad of tobacco into his pipe.菲尔波特往烟斗里塞了一卷碎烟叶。