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轉向國內消費
The Shift to Domestic Consumption
到現在為止，中國資本密集型出口拉動增長的模式，運行的不錯。但是導致了一些不平衡，也引起了中國政府的注意。
China’s capital intensive export led growth model has served it very well. But it has also led to the creation of a number of imbalances which the Chinese Government rightly recognises as requiring attention.
首先是社會上的不平等。中國幾億人口脫貧、人均GDP快速增長，這些努力值得稱贊。但是，并不是所有人都分享到了經濟增長的好處。經濟學家指出，衡量收入是否平等的基尼系數從上世紀八十年代中期的零點三，上升到現在的零點四七。眾所周知，上世紀八十年代末以來，城市收入最高的十分之一的人口與收入最低的十分之一的差距在擴大，從七倍擴大到二十多倍。城市人均收入是農村的三倍還要多。
The first of these is social inequality. China’s efforts to raise hundreds of millions of its citizens out of poverty rapidly increasing the per capita GDP of its citizens are impressive and commendable. However, the benefits of China’s massive growth have not been shared by all. Economists have noted that the Gini coefficient – a measure of overall income inequality – has increased from around 0.3 in the mid-1980s to 0.47 now. Since the late 1980s, the gap in urban income between the top 10 per cent and the bottom 10 per cent has widened from seven times to more than 20 times. Average per capita income is now more than three times that of rural areas.
澳大利亞歡迎中國政府提出的一系列，解決不平等問題的目標。其中有包括全部農村居民和三點五七億城市居民的養老金計劃，每年最低工資增長不低于百分之十三，還有，為低收入家庭建三千六百萬套保障房。政府也會繼續增加大教育投資，同時擴大醫療體系。這些政策，有助于緩解中國收入不平等的問題。居民也能降低儲蓄，因為社會福利，變好了。收入分配、保障房、醫療和低收入人群工資的改善，以及城市中產階級的擴大，有助于中國向消費拉動增長模式的轉變。
Australia warmly welcomes the Chinese Government’s announcement of a range of key targets to tackle this inequality. Among them are: pension schemes to cover all rural residents and 357 million urban residents; an increase in the minimum wage by no less than 13 per cent per year; and in housing, the construction and renovation of 36 million apartments for low-income families. Education spending will remain a priority, while the pharmaceuticals and healthcare system will be broadened to cover more of the population. These policies will help to ease the problems of income inequality in China. But they will also reduce the need for China’s citizens to maintain such a high rate of saving to compensate for inadequacies in the social-welfare system. Efforts to improve China’s system of income redistribution, access to social housing and health care and the wages of China’s lowest-income earners, coupled with the rapid growth in the size of China’s urban middle class, will certainly assist China to make the transition towards a consumption-led model of growth.
隨著經濟高速發展，中國面對的另一個挑戰就是環境成本。作為“世界工廠”，中國是鋼和鋁等能源密集型商品的凈出口國。根據耶魯大學和哥倫比亞大學編的二零一零年環境績效指數，綜合考慮氣候變化、空氣污染、獲取水資源等環境政策目標，中國排在全球第一百二十一位。
Another challenge China faces as a consequence of its phenomenal economic growth has been the environmental cost. China’s emergence as the ‘world factory’ has seen it become a net exporter of energy intensive goods such as steel and aluminium. According to the 2010 Environmental Performance Index compiled by Yale University and Columbia University, China ranks 121st internationally for its performance against environmental policy goals such as climate change, air pollution and water access.
中國政府為此提出了以下計劃：首先非化石能源占一次能源消費比重，提高到百分之十一點四。其次，單位GDP能耗降低百分之十六。再次，單位GDP二氧化碳排放降低百分之十七。最后，單位工業增加值用水量降低百分之三十。同時，中國政府也在提高核電和天然氣發電所占比例。核電和天然氣發電的碳排放比煤炭發電低。這些政策有助于中國轉向可持續增長道路，有助于全球應對氣候變化。
To address these problems, the Chinese Government has announced far-reaching plans: to increase the share of non-fossil fuels in China’s energy mix to 11.4 per cent of primary energy consumption; to cut energy consumption per unit of GDP by 16 per cent; to cut carbon dioxide emission per unit of GDP by 17 per cent; and to reduce water consumption per unit of value-added industrial output by 30 per cent. These policies complement existing efforts by the Chinese Government to increase the contribution to its energy mix of nuclear and gas-fired power generation, which are less carbon-intensive than coal. These will help underpin China’s efforts to transition China towards a more sustainable growth path – and to contribute to the global response to climate change.
