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全國人大會議傳遞出清晰的信息：保持價格穩(wěn)定（而非經濟增長），已成為中國的頭等大事。

　　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.

　　中國將消費者價格指數(shù)(CPI)目標設定為4%——比去年3%的目標（未能實現(xiàn)）高出一個百分點。不過，今年迄今為止，中國在控制通脹方面做得并不比2010年更為成功。食品價格持續(xù)上漲——但在2月中旬春節(jié)結束后上漲速度有所放緩。盡管中國出臺了抑制房價上漲的措施，但房價仍繼續(xù)上漲。中國進口石油和煤炭等大宗商品價格持續(xù)攀升——過去3個月的漲幅為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.

　　上述問題都令市場擔憂。市場還擔憂中國日益上漲的薪資水平——匯豐(HSBC)的數(shù)據顯示，在截止去年9月的一年里，中國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.

　　在中國所有的沿海城市，工廠主們都在抱怨勞動力成本日益上升。全球最大的漁業(yè)公司、在中國各地擁有14家工廠的中漁集團(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：“我們知道會出現(xiàn)這種情況，只是沒想到來得這么快。眼下到處都有工作機會，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，為此他正在對自己的工廠升級換代，引進更多的自動化設備，以降低勞動力密集程度。其它制造商和加工企業(yè)正遷往內地。當內地基礎設施明顯改善、因而將工廠遷往內地具有可行性之際，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——在這些國家，原料往往需要進口，港口經營不善，當?shù)睾ｊP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題，但薪資上漲作為中國的通脹來源之一，并不那么令人擔憂。實際上，它可以說是一件好事。這是因為薪資增長是中國政府和世界其它國家所呼吁的經濟再平衡的一部分。這種再平衡正在中國國內、以及中國和其它國家之間進行著。

　　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)正將工廠遷往內地，同時帶去了就業(yè)機會和財富，由此縮小了國內收入差距，并減少了國內資本的外流。薪資上漲意味著，內需（而非出口）將日益成為增長的催化劑。這有利于那些生產中國消費者所青睞的商品的國家。

　　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.)

　　這進而意味著，導致中國與以美國為首的貿易伙伴發(fā)生摩擦的貿易順差正逐漸消失。相比之下，日本經濟增長依然無望地依賴外部需求。即使在此次天災發(fā)生之前，日本的收入已多年沒有增長、甚至出現(xiàn)負增長。

　　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，薪資增長仍落后于生產力的增長，這意味著中國將繼續(xù)保持競爭力，而企業(yè)利潤將繼續(xù)增長。

　　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，通脹將會給中國帶來那種匯率升值可能產生的效果——如果中國更愿意容忍人民幣升值的話。中國已經在向價值鏈的高端移動。正如摩根大通(JPMorgan)的中國經濟學家吳向紅(Grace Ng)指出的那樣，中國出口的玩具和紡織品等低價值產品似乎逐漸達到峰值，而機械和高端設備的出口正不斷擴大。

　　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，中國政府和其他外部政策制定者還在擔心通縮。實際上，貿易條款繼續(xù)有利于大宗商品生產國、而非制造國，很大程度上是因為中國制成品的巨大產出。例如，摩根大通的數(shù)據顯示，澳大利亞出口1000噸煤可以進口170臺平板電視，而在5年前，出口1000噸煤只能進口30臺平板電視。

　　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，制成品價格不斷下降有利于西方（尤其是美國）狂熱的消費者?？梢哉f，相對于中國自身而言，中國通脹的消息對于其它國家來說更加糟糕，因為它們進口中國產品的成本將上升，在進口商品的同時輸入了通脹。吳向紅表示，中國和亞洲其它制造業(yè)經濟體成為了全球價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，全世界以及中國日益增加的老年人口和退休工人，肯定會感謝中國勞動力財富的增加。如果說中國不能在步入老年之前變得富裕起來，至少它的人民可以。