China’s trade surplus dropped in August after imports grew at a faster rate than expected, an indication that domestic demand could be rebounding after several months of slowdown.

　　中國8月份貿(mào)易順差收窄，主要因?yàn)檫M(jìn)口增長快于預(yù)期，表明內(nèi)需在放緩了幾個(gè)月后，可能正在回升。

　　The trade surplus fell from $28.7bn in July to $20.03bn last month as a result of the surging imports, although analysts said the level of the surplus remained high enough to keep political pressure on Beijing over its exchange rate policy.

　　由于進(jìn)口激增，上月貿(mào)易順差從7月的287億美元降至200.3億美元，但分析師表示，這一順差水平仍然較高，北京因匯率政策而承受的政治壓力不會(huì)消退。

　　Politicians in the US have stepped up their criticism of what they see as China’s undervalued exchange rate in recent weeks, raising new fears that the argument could lead to a trade dispute.

　　最近幾周，美國政界人士更加激烈地批評(píng)人民幣匯率低估，再度引發(fā)了有關(guān)這場爭論可能導(dǎo)致貿(mào)易爭端的擔(dān)憂。

　　Perhaps in response, Beijing allowed its currency to appreciate by a relatively fast pace of 0.5 per cent this week, taking the total increase in the value of the renminbi to 0.95 per cent since it abandoned the dollar peg in June.

　　或許是作為回應(yīng)，上周北京容許人民幣以相對(duì)快速的步伐升值0.5%，人民幣自6月放棄盯住美元以來累計(jì)升值0.95%。

　　The acceleration in imports, which increased by 35.2 per cent in August over the year before, has added to the uncertainty about the current direction of economic policy in China.

　　進(jìn)口增長提速——8月份進(jìn)口同比增長35.2%——加劇了有關(guān)當(dāng)前中國經(jīng)濟(jì)政策方向的不確定性。

　　In order to prevent the economy from overheating, Beijing has in recent months called for inefficient factories to be closed, launched a clampdown on property speculation and pushed banks to rein in lending.

　　為防止經(jīng)濟(jì)過熱，近幾月來北京要求關(guān)停一些低效率的工廠，打壓房地產(chǎn)投機(jī)活動(dòng)，并敦促銀行減少放貸。

　　However, rising imports of a number of commodities could reflect a new drive for more infrastructure investment to prevent a sharp economic slowdown.

　　然而，許多大宗商品進(jìn)口增加，可能反映為防止經(jīng)濟(jì)急劇放緩，中國正在掀起新的一輪基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施投資熱。

　　“Domestic demand for raw materials and capital goods recovered as the central government sped up approval of infrastructure projects in central and western China and accelerated disbursement of investment funds,” said Xu Jian, an economist at China International Capital Corporation in Beijing.

　　“由于中央政府加快批準(zhǔn)中西部地區(qū)的基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施項(xiàng)目，加快撥發(fā)投資資金，國內(nèi)對(duì)原材料和資本商品的需求出現(xiàn)回升。”中國國際金融有限公司(CICC)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家徐劍表示。