The recent National Peoples’ Congress in Beijing made it clear that price stability, rather than growth, had become the top priority in China.

　　最近在北京召開的中國(guó)全國(guó)人大會(huì)議傳遞出清晰的信息：保持價(jià)格穩(wěn)定（而非經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)），已成為中國(guó)的頭等大事。

　　The consumer price index target was set at 4 per cent (a percentage point above last year’s missed 3 per cent target). So far this year, though, the government hasn’t been any more successful than in 2010. Food prices continue to rise (though at a slower pace after the Lunar New Year banquets came to an end in mid-February). Housing prices also are going up despite measures to curb the appreciation. And the prices of commodities that China imports such as oil and coal continue to climb, up 30 per cent in the past three months.

　　中國(guó)將消費(fèi)者價(jià)格指數(shù)(CPI)目標(biāo)設(shè)定為4%——比去年3%的目標(biāo)（未能實(shí)現(xiàn)）高出一個(gè)百分點(diǎn)。不過(guò)，今年迄今為止，中國(guó)在控制通脹方面做得并不比2010年更為成功。食品價(jià)格持續(xù)上漲——但在2月中旬春節(jié)結(jié)束后上漲速度有所放緩。盡管中國(guó)出臺(tái)了抑制房?jī)r(jià)上漲的措施，但房?jī)r(jià)仍繼續(xù)上漲。中國(guó)進(jìn)口石油和煤炭等大宗商品價(jià)格持續(xù)攀升——過(guò)去3個(gè)月的漲幅為30%。

　　The market frets about all this. It also frets about rising wage bills in China – wages were up in nominal terms 14 per cent on the year through September, according to HSBC.

　　上述問(wèn)題都令市場(chǎng)擔(dān)憂。市場(chǎng)還擔(dān)憂中國(guó)日益上漲的薪資水平——匯豐(HSBC)的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，在截止去年9月的一年里，中國(guó)名義薪資水平上漲了14%。

　　All across China’s coastal cities, plant operators complain about their rising labour costs. China Fishery, the world’s largest fish processing firm with 14 plants across China, is no exception. Recruiting and retaining workers have become much more challenging.

　　在中國(guó)所有的沿海城市，工廠主們都在抱怨勞動(dòng)力成本日益上升。全球最大的漁業(yè)公司、在中國(guó)各地?fù)碛?4家工廠的中漁集團(tuán)(China Fishery)也不例外。招聘及留住工人的難度比以往大得多。

　　“We understood that this would happen,” says its group managing director, Ng Joo Siang, speaking at his Hong Kong head office, where the corridors are lined with photographs and packages of fish products. “We just did not think it would happen so quickly. Today there is job opportunity everywhere. There is much less need for migration.”

　　中漁集團(tuán)執(zhí)行董事黃裕翔(Ng Joo Siang)在其香港總部的辦公室里表示：“我們知道會(huì)出現(xiàn)這種情況，只是沒(méi)想到來(lái)得這么快。眼下到處都有工作機(jī)會(huì)，人們外出打工的必要性明顯下降。”在中漁香港總部辦公室的走廊兩旁，擺放著海產(chǎn)品的圖片和包裝。

　　In response, Mr Ng says he is retooling his factories and introducing more automation to make them less labour intensive. Other manufacturers and processors are moving inland. It is no coincidence that the government is tolerating higher wages on the coast at a time when it is practical to think of moving inland, thanks to vast improvements in infrastructure. Many factory owners would prefer to go to Shanxi or Sichuan than to Bangladesh and Vietnam, where often inputs have to be imported, the ports don’t work well and local customs officials may be corrupt.

　　黃裕翔表示，為此他正在對(duì)自己的工廠升級(jí)換代，引進(jìn)更多的自動(dòng)化設(shè)備，以降低勞動(dòng)力密集程度。其它制造商和加工企業(yè)正遷往內(nèi)地。當(dāng)內(nèi)地基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施明顯改善、因而將工廠遷往內(nèi)地具有可行性之際，政府容忍沿海地區(qū)薪資水平上漲并非巧合。許多工廠主寧愿遷往陜西或四川，也不愿去孟加拉和越南——在這些國(guó)家，原料往往需要進(jìn)口，港口經(jīng)營(yíng)不善，當(dāng)?shù)睾ｊP(guān)官員可能也很腐敗。

　　Despite all this, wage inflation is one source of inflation in China that is less worrisome. Indeed, it is arguably a good thing. That’s because wage growth is part of the rebalancing that both the Chinese government and the rest of the world is calling for. That rebalancing is taking place both within China and between China and the rest of the world.

　　盡管存在上述種種問(wèn)題，但薪資上漲作為中國(guó)的通脹來(lái)源之一，并不那么令人擔(dān)憂。實(shí)際上，它可以說(shuō)是一件好事。這是因?yàn)樾劫Y增長(zhǎng)是中國(guó)政府和世界其它國(guó)家所呼吁的經(jīng)濟(jì)再平衡的一部分。這種再平衡正在中國(guó)國(guó)內(nèi)、以及中國(guó)和其它國(guó)家之間進(jìn)行著。

　　As wages rise in the biggest cities on the coast, companies are moving inland, bringing jobs and wealth with them, and reducing both internal income disparities and internal capital flight. Wage hikes mean domestic demand rather than exports will become increasingly the catalyst for growth. That is good for countries that make the stuff that Chinese consumers wish to buy.

　　隨著中國(guó)最大的一些沿海城市的薪資水平上漲，企業(yè)正將工廠遷往內(nèi)地，同時(shí)帶去了就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)和財(cái)富，由此縮小了國(guó)內(nèi)收入差距，并減少了國(guó)內(nèi)資本的外流。薪資上漲意味著，內(nèi)需（而非出口）將日益成為增長(zhǎng)的催化劑。這有利于那些生產(chǎn)中國(guó)消費(fèi)者所青睞的商品的國(guó)家。

　　That in turn spells diminishing surpluses that have led to friction with trading partners led by the US. (By contrast, Japan remains hopelessly dependent on external demand for its economic growth. Even before the natural disaster, income growth in Japan has been flat to negative for years.)

　　這進(jìn)而意味著，導(dǎo)致中國(guó)與以美國(guó)為首的貿(mào)易伙伴發(fā)生摩擦的貿(mào)易順差正逐漸消失。相比之下，日本經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)依然無(wú)望地依賴外部需求。即使在此次天災(zāi)發(fā)生之前，日本的收入已多年沒(méi)有增長(zhǎng)、甚至出現(xiàn)負(fù)增長(zhǎng)。

　　Just as there is good deflation and bad deflation, there can be good inflation and bad inflation. Importantly, wage growth still lags behind productivity growth which means that China will remain competitive and the profits of its enterprises will continue to climb.

　　正如通縮有好有壞一樣，通脹亦是如此。重要的是，薪資增長(zhǎng)仍落后于生產(chǎn)力的增長(zhǎng)，這意味著中國(guó)將繼續(xù)保持競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力，而企業(yè)利潤(rùn)將繼續(xù)增長(zhǎng)。

　　Moreover, inflation will do for China what exchange rate appreciation might have done if China had been more willing to tolerate a rise in the value of its currency. Already China is moving up the value added chain. China’s exports of lower value added products like toys and textiles seem to be gradually peaking, while its exports of machinery and high end equipment have been expanding, as JPMorgan’s China economist Grace Ng notes.

　　此外，通脹將會(huì)給中國(guó)帶來(lái)那種匯率升值可能產(chǎn)生的效果——如果中國(guó)更愿意容忍人民幣升值的話。中國(guó)已經(jīng)在向價(jià)值鏈的高端移動(dòng)。正如摩根大通(JPMorgan)的中國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家吳向紅(Grace Ng)指出的那樣，中國(guó)出口的玩具和紡織品等低價(jià)值產(chǎn)品似乎逐漸達(dá)到峰值，而機(jī)械和高端設(shè)備的出口正不斷擴(kuò)大。

　　It was only a few years ago that the Chinese government along with policymakers outside China worried about deflation. Indeed, terms of trade continue to favour commodity producers rather than manufacturers, in large part because of the prodigious output of manufactured goods from China. In Australia, for example, 1,000 tonnes of exported coal buys 170 imported flat screen televisions compared with just 30 of them five years ago, according to JPMorgan.

　　僅僅數(shù)年前，中國(guó)政府和其他外部政策制定者還在擔(dān)心通縮。實(shí)際上，貿(mào)易條款繼續(xù)有利于大宗商品生產(chǎn)國(guó)、而非制造國(guó)，很大程度上是因?yàn)橹袊?guó)制成品的巨大產(chǎn)出。例如，摩根大通的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，澳大利亞出口1000噸煤可以進(jìn)口170臺(tái)平板電視，而在5年前，出口1000噸煤只能進(jìn)口30臺(tái)平板電視。

　　Falling prices for manufactured goods though was a good thing for frantic consumers in the west, particularly in the US. Arguably, inflation in China will be worse news for the rest of the world than for China itself because the cost of imports from China will rise, importing inflation along with goods. China and other manufacturing economies in Asia have become important factors in global price setting, according to Ms Ng.

　　 然而，制成品價(jià)格不斷下降有利于西方（尤其是美國(guó)）狂熱的消費(fèi)者?？梢哉f(shuō)，相對(duì)于中國(guó)自身而言，中國(guó)通脹的消息對(duì)于其它國(guó)家來(lái)說(shuō)更加糟糕，因?yàn)樗鼈冞M(jìn)口中國(guó)產(chǎn)品的成本將上升，在進(jìn)口商品的同時(shí)輸入了通脹。吳向紅表示，中國(guó)和亞洲其它制造業(yè)經(jīng)濟(jì)體成為了全球價(jià)格形成中的重要因素。

　　Still, the world and China’s increasing population of ageing and retired workers must be grateful for improvements in the fortunes of China’s labour force. If China can’t get rich before it gets old, at least its people can.

　　此外，全世界以及中國(guó)日益增加的老年人口和退休工人，肯定會(huì)感謝中國(guó)勞動(dòng)力財(cái)富的增加。如果說(shuō)中國(guó)不能在步入老年之前變得富裕起來(lái)，至少它的人民可以。