财经新闻《中国各省经济差异加大 》.

　　Last month more than 30 provincial taxi drivers drank poison and collapsed together on the busiest shopping street in Beijing in a dramatic protest against economic and working conditions in their home town.

　　上个月，逾30名偏远地区的出租车司机，在北京繁忙的购物步行街，一同喝下农药倒在地上。他们试图以这种戏剧性的方式，抗议在其家乡的经济及工作状况。

　　The drivers, who the police say all survived, were from Suifenhe, a city on the Russian border in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang.

　　警方表示，这些出租车司机均无生命危险。他们都来自东北黑龙江省的绥芬河市，该市位于中国与俄罗斯的边境线上。

　　Such lurid acts of protest are an ancient tradition in China but the extremity of their action highlights one of the biggest problems facing Beijing as it tries to manage the worst economic slowdown in nearly three decades: a deepening provincial economic divide.

　　在中国，这种极端的抗议方式是一种古老的传统。不过，他们采取如此极端的方式，凸显出中国各省之间的差距日益扩大。对于正应对近三十年来最严重放缓的中国政府来说，这是他们面临的最大问题之一。

　　An examination of regional growth rates across the country shows the slowdown has affected some areas far worse than others. Perhaps predictably, the worst-hit places are those that can least afford it.

　　考察一下全中国的地区增长速度，会发现此次经济放缓对部分地区的影响远大于其他地区。也许人们可以预见的是，受影响最大的地区，正好是那些承受能力最弱的地区。

　　Heilongjiang is among the poorest performers. While national nominal growth slipped to 5.8 per cent in the first quarter compared with a year earlier — its lowest level since the global financial crisis — the province’s nominal GDP actually contracted, by 3.2 per cent.

　　黑龙江就属于经济表现最糟糕的地区之一。在一季度中国名义同比增长率降至5.8%之际(这是自全球金融危机以来的最低水平)，黑龙江省的名义GDP实际上收缩了3.2%。

　　In the provincial capital of Harbin, signs of economic malaise are everywhere.

　　在黑龙江省的省会哈尔滨，经济不景气的迹象随处可见。

　　A large upscale mall in the centre of town with half a dozen boarded-up shopfronts is abandoned inside apart from a luxury home furnishing shop and a Bentley dealership with three salespeople asleep on couches in the corner.

　　在哈尔滨市中心的一家大型豪华购物中心，多家商铺的门脸已经用木板钉上。购物中心内部，除了一家豪华家具店和一家宾利(Bentley)代理商以外，其他店铺已被弃用。而在那家宾利代理商的店铺内，三名销售人员正在拐角的沙发上打瞌睡。

　　A short drive from the city centre and the primary reason for the region’s economic woes becomes clear.

　　从市中心驾车走不了多久，就能轻易看出当地经济不景气的主要原因。

　　As far as the eye can see there are empty or half-built residential tower communities boasting names such as “Jade Lake World”, “River Chateau”, “Polyup Town” and Intime City”.

　　目光可及之处，空置或修建了一半的住宅楼小区随处可见。这些小区都炫耀着类似“翠湖天地(Jade Lake World)”、“River Chateau”、“保利上城(Polyup Town)”、“银泰城(Intime City)”这样的名字。

　　Each tower holds roughly 400 units and each community has between 20 and 50 towers. In the new Qunli district alone there are more than 30 completed or half-built communities.

　　每栋大楼约有400套住房，每个小区的住宅楼在20栋到50栋之间。而仅在群力新区，已建成和在建的小区就超过30个。

　　Without much industry, Harbin’s economy has traditionally relied on agriculture, tourism and trade with Russia but in the past five years it has been boosted by the enormous residential property construction binge seen all over China.

　　哈尔滨的经济传统上依赖农业、旅游业和对俄贸易，工业所占比重并不大。不过，过去五年里，遍及全国的巨大住宅地产建设狂欢，极大程度地带动了哈尔滨的经济。

　　“In the past few years a decent-sized cement company could sell 1m cubic metres of cement annually but now they are lucky to sell 100 cu m a day and they are all losing money,” says Chen Liyong, a 31-year-old taxi driver who lost his job at a cement company late last year.

　　现年31岁的出租车司机陈立勇(Chen Liyong，音译)表示：“过去几年里，规模差不多的水泥公司每年能卖出1百万立方米的水泥。如今每天能卖100立方米就不错了，它们全都在亏本。”去年底，陈立勇失去了在一家水泥公司的工作。

　　“Our economy here has relied almost entirely on building housing but everyone who can afford an apartment already has one and we don’t have anyone moving here from other places.”

　　“我们这的经济几乎全靠修楼，但是所有买得起房的人都已经拥有了一套房子，又没有其他地方的人迁过来。”

　　Some developers appear to be getting desperate and have begun to slash prices and put new projects on hold.

　　部分开发商似乎正在陷入绝望，他们已开始大幅削价，并暂停了新项目的开发。

　　The Intime City development, next to a newly built but apparently abandoned concert hall, recently lowered the price of a new apartment by almost a quarter, from Rmb790,000 ($130,000) to Rmb600,000.

　　最近，银泰城楼盘将其新住宅的价格从79万人民币(合13万美元)降至60万人民币，降价幅度接近四分之一。在银泰城楼盘的旁边，则是一座新近建成却似乎已被弃用的音乐厅。

　　The average monthly salary in the city is only about Rmb4,500.

　　目前，哈尔滨平均月工资水平只有大约4500元人民币。

　　“One reason apartment sales are bad is because the main people who could afford to buy bore were corrupt officials but now they don’t dare to buy because of the anti-corruption campaign [launched by President Xi Jinping in late 2012],” said one person involved in the property sector who asked not to be named for fear of retribution.

　　一位房地产从业人员表示：“住宅楼销售情况糟糕的原因之一，是过去买得起房子的人主要是那些腐败官员。如今，由于(2012年底中国国家主席习近平发动的)反腐运动，他们不敢买房了。”由于害怕遭到报复，这位从业人员要求不要公开他的名字。

　　The problems facing Harbin are replicated across the country but are most extreme in the provinces and regions that have relied most heavily in recent years on debt-fuelled infrastructure and property investment.

　　哈尔滨面临的问题在全国其他城市也同样存在，不过，在那些近年来严重依赖债务开展基建及地产投资的省份和地区，这些问题表现得最为极端。

　　“The rich provinces and regions — with higher household consumption — are proving more resilient,” says Rodney Jones, founder of Wigram Capital and former head of Asian research for Soros Fund Management. “The downturn is being felt hardest in the poorer provinces — which have the biggest dicits and have relied the most on investment for growth.”Wigram Capital

　　创始人罗德尼?琼斯(Rodney Jones)表示：“事实证明，居民消费水平较高的富有省份和地区的抵抗力要强一些。较贫穷省份对经济下行的体会最强烈，这些省份的赤字最高，其增长对投资的依赖也最大。”琼斯曾任索罗斯基金管理公司(Soros Fund Management)的亚洲研究部门主管。

　　He estimates that the economies of 11 of China’s 31 province-level regions contracted in real terms in the first quarter of this year from the previous quarter, even as wealthy regions such as Shanghai and Beijing continued to perform quite well.

　　他估计，今年第一季度，在中国31个省级行政区中，11个省区的经济在扣除物价因素之后低于前一季度——尽管上海和北京等富裕地区的经济表现相当不错。

　　In Harbin, news of the poison protest in the capital last month has spread throughout the city’s fleet of disgruntled taxi drivers, many of whom hope the incident would draw Beijing’s attention to the economic plight of the provinces.

　　在哈尔滨，上个月北京发生的喝农药抗议的新闻，在该市心怀不满的出租车司机中广泛流传。他们中的许多人希望，这次事件能让中央政府注意到黑龙江省的经济困境。

　　“We are not allowed to own our own cabs and in the last year the amount we have to pay to the taxi company has doubled or tripled,” said one, who asked to remain anonymous. “When you’re driving all day for nothing and struggling to feed your family, what real choices do you have?”

　　一位要求不公开姓名的司机表示：“我们不许拥有自己的出租车。去年，我们需要交给出租汽车公司的份子钱涨了一两倍。如果你整天拉活却赚不到钱，连家人都养不活，你还能有什么选择?”