【双语阅读】中国上半年出口略超德国

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CHINA EDGES AHEAD OF GERMANY IN RACE TO BE ‘WORLD EXPORT CHAMPION'


By Ralph Atkins in Frankfurt 2009-08-25


Chinese exports narrowly edged ahead of those from Germany in the first six months of the year, new figures showed yesterday, in a fresh sign that Germany's status as the world's leading exporter is at risk.

China exported goods worth $521.7bn in the first six months of this year, while Germany's total was $521.6bn, the Geneva-based World Trade Organisation reported.

Such export figures are closely followed in Germany, Europe's largest economy, which has national elections next month. Sales of its industrial products have largely powered the economic growth in recent years, and throughout the economic crisis the government of Angela Merkel, chancellor, has defended strongly the country's export-driven economic model.

Germany has long been braced for the much faster-growing Chinese economy to assume its “world export champion” title.

However, the likely value of German and Chinese exports for the full year remains uncertain and will depend heavily on exchange rate movements in coming months. A strong euro would help flatter Germany's figure. Germany's export businesses have also shown signs of reviving in recent months.

“It is too close to say for the whole year and who knows for next year,” said Patrick Low, the WTO's chief economist.
Germany's exports were badly hit by the collapse in global confidence that followed the failure of Lehman Brothers investment bank last year.

But signs of a strong recovery have emerged. In June, the latest month for which data are available, German exports leapt by 7 per cent compared with the previous month. Nevertheless they were still 22.3 per cent lower than a year before. Chinese exports have followed a similar pattern.

The surge in exports helped explain why Germany was able to report a rise in gross domestic product in the second quarter, compared with the previous three months – meaning it emerged from recession ahead of the US, the UK and most of the other large European economies.




中国上半年出口略超德国

英国《金融时报》拉尔夫·阿特金斯(Ralph Atkins)法兰克福报道 2009-08-25

世界贸易组织(WTO)昨天发布的最新数据显示，今年上半年，中国出口微幅超过德国。这再次表明，德国作为世界领先出口国的地位正受到威胁。

总部位于日内瓦的世界贸易组织在报告中表示，今年前6个月，中国出口了价值5217亿美元的商品，而德国的出口总额为5216亿美元。
这些出口数字在德国受到密切关注。德国是欧洲最大的经济体，下月将举行全国大选，其工业产品的销售是近年来经济增长的主要推动力。在整个经济危机期间，安格拉·默克尔(Angela Merkel)政府一直在为该国出口导向型经济模式进行坚决辩护。

对于增长更快的中国经济夺取其“全球出口冠军”称号，德国早就有了心理准备。

然而，德国和中国全年的出口价值目前仍不明朗，它们将在很大程度上取决于未来数月汇率的走势。强势欧元将对德国数字有利。德国的出口行业在最近几个月也呈现出复苏的迹象。

“全年的数据很难说，明年谁也不知道会怎样，”世贸组织首席经济学家帕特里克•洛(Patrick Low)表示。

投资银行雷曼兄弟去年破产，全球信心随之崩溃，德国出口业受到严重打击。

但强劲复苏的迹象已经出现。今年6月（数据可得的最近月份），德国出口较前一个月环比大幅增长7%，但同比跌幅仍达到22.3%。中国出口也出现了类似的状况。

出口激增帮助解释了为什么德国第二季度国内生产总值较前3个月出现正增长。这一增长意味着它先于美国、英国和大部分其它欧洲经济体摆脱了衰退。


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